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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN |
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JACOB'S ROD:
A TRANSLATION FROM THE FRENCH OF A RARE
CURIOUS WORK, A.D. 1693, ON THE
ART OF FINDING SPRINGS, MINES,
AND MINERALS BY MEANS
FAR
OF THE HAZEL
ROD.
TO WHICH IS APPENDED RESEARCHES, WITH PROOFS
OF THE EXISTENCE OF A MORE CERTAIN AND
HIGHER FACULTY, WITH CLEAR
AND AMPLE INSTRUCTIONS FOR
USING IT.
a
PUBLISHED BY THE TRANSLATOR:
THOMAS WELTON.
13, GRAFTON STREET, FITZROY SQUARE, LONDON.
PRICE 2s. 6d.
AL L RIGHTS RESERVED
тие.
1
08-11-33MEN
gift
8-9-33

CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I., WHICH SERVES AS AN INTRODUCTION TO
THIS TREATISE
CHAPTER II., ON THE QUALITY OF THE ROD
CHAPTER III., ON THE FORM OF THE ROD
CHAPTER IV., ON THE MANNER OF HOLDING JACOB'S
ROD, AND HOW IT TURNS
CHAPTER V., HOW ONE MAY KNOW IN GENERAL HOW
TO DISTINGUISH HIDDEN THINGS BY JACOB'S ROD
CHAPTER VI., HOW TO DISCOVER IN PARTICULAR
MINES AND HIDDEN METALS
CHAPTER VII., BY WHAT MEANS ONE MAY KNOW
THE WIDTH OF THE HIDDEN SPRINGS AND MINES
CHAPTER VIII., BY WHAT MEANS ONE MAY KNOW
THE DEPTH OF SOURCES OR METALS
CHAPTER IX., IF ONE CAN TRULY KNOW THE SIZE OF
SOURCES OR OF MINES
CHAPTER X., OF THE METHOD OF DISCOVERING BOUN-
DARIES, ROADS, OR PATHS
CHAPTER XI., OF THE DIFFERENT CAUSES OF THE
ROD'S MOVEMENT .
CHAPTER XII., EXPLANATION OF SOME DOUBTS UPON
THE CAUSES OF THE ROD'S 'MOVEMENT.
ADDENDA-CHAPTER I.
ADDENDA-CHAPTER II.
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INTRODUCTION.
In bringing this rare and most curious work before
your notice, permit me to say, that from the earliest
times it has been observed that all things in nature
act powerfully on those persons called by the Baron
Von Reichenbach sensitives (especially the metals),
causing in them a state of electrical disturbance.
This I purpose to teach you how to induce, and by
its means find, with almost unerring certainty, mines
of metal, minerals, and springs of water, without even
the trouble of going to the place where they are situa-
ted. At the same time, it is my most earnest request,
and I cannot enforce it too strongly, that, should you
desire to test my discovery for yourself personally,
the strictest attention must be paid to the instructions
given, as otherwise inevitably bad results to the sen-
sitive will ensue.
As regards the translation (perhaps it is too literal)
allow me to observe that, as far as my experience of
twenty-five years goes, some of the explanations
and instructions given in it are incorrect (or, at all
events, not warranted by actual proofs). However, I
will not review the work of M. Baritel in any carping

5.
8
INTRODUCTION.
spirit-in the main he is right-but rather put before
you in plain language, and I hope clearly, my own
experiments with my wife, who has long been privately
known to have the precious gift of not only being able
to diagnose diseases with exactitude, and so curing
the hopelessly sick, but of finding mines, springs, &c.,
by her faculty, some of which are now in actual work,
and producing good results; to them, however, I may
not refer, having received remuneration; but much
prefer to give ocular demonstration, and, if required,
practical instruction.
T. W.
¡

3
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JACOB'S ROD.
A Translation from the French.
CHAPTER I,
WHICH SERVES AS. AN INTRODUCTION ΤΟ THIS
TREATISE.
THE most healthy philosophy allows that the stars
influence all sublunary things, and that the quality
which is proper and individual to each body, animate
or inanimate, depends absolutely, or derives its nature.
from that which the star impresses on it, which rules
over it even from its generation. Experience con-
vinces us every day of this truth, and teaches us at the
same time that the knowledge of the chief part of
these different qualities are closed letters for men, that
certainly they discover some, but there is only the
Sovereign Being who has a perfect knowledge of them;
and when He permits that mortals draw some of them
from the darkness in which their ignorance keeps them
buried, it is a benefit which proceeds less from their
labour, and from their experience, than from a par-
ticular favour which His divine goodness grants to
their indigence, and to the relief of their misery,
Man, as well as other bodies, and as the most noble
participates in these influences; one lives but for war,
another for study, and cannot satisfy his curiosity;
one seems born for commerce, another to teach, or
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JACOB'S ROD.
for agriculture; one loves law and has the spirit of
business; the other abhors them, and flies them as
contrary to his repose and tranquility; in fine, one is
born a poet, another becomes an orator, and, to speak
with the apostle Paul to the Ephesians, ch. 4, v. II,
"He gave some apostles," &c., &c.
It is constantly that all these different inclinations
of men proceed, and are only impressed on them at
the moment of their birth by the different conjunctions
or by the different aspects of the planets with the
signs, and the other stars which rule or influence.
They are as secondary causes of which God makes
use to shed His different gifts upon men, and if by His
grace each for himself was happy enough to know
the inclination of the star which influences over him
principally, he would succeed without difficulty in
applying himself to the occupations belonging to it, or
would in some degree correct the malignity of it if he
were careful to avoid the occasions where it would
cause him to sin.
It is not my design to enlarge here upon the proof
of this proposition, nor to show how and which are
the stars which produce these different effects.
Besides this matter being too lofty for me, it would
deserve a more ample volume, besides being quite out
of my subject. My only object is to treat of those
to whom God, by the influence of the stars, has im-
pressed the faculty of discovering, by the movement
of the rod called Jacob's rod, all hidden things, sub-
terranean and others.
They maintain that those who have this virtue or
faculty are born under the planet Mercury or Saturn,
!
JACOB'S ROD.
II
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and under the signs of Aquarius and Taurus. We
find many who have a similar ascendant, either in
all or in part, but I can say there are very few who
have a true knowledge of their influence, or who know
how to make use of it. It is a hidden treasure, it is
a dead power in them, which is entirely useless to
them. I will reanimate it in telling them of some
experiences which I have or will make on this subject,
and, in showing them the use of the rod, I will make
them bring into action a virtue which they possessed
only as a power. I will also teach those who have
not this virtue the means not to be deceived by so
many adventurers or others who falsely pretend
to have it. In fact every one knows the beauty
and the utility of water in a domain-the riches pro-
duced by the discovery of mines and of hidden metals;
the tranquility and repose given to families by dis-
covering the limits which separate their lands; the
place where they ought to be, when by the fraud of
the proprietors, or by the succession of the times, they
are changed. In a word no one ignores the pleasure
of discovering many hidden things about which one
is often much troubled, but few people know the way
to find them, the place, its depth, its width, the different
kinds, the quantity contained, and, in a word, the
secret not to make a mistake whilst making the search,
and to avoid the great and useless expenses often
incurred.
This is what I wish to teach now; the present which
I make to the public is as rare as it is new, and I
flatter myself that, hitherto, no one has contemplated
making a similar one. This thought makes me hope
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JACOB'S ROD.
that they will heartily receive a liberality which another
doubtless will enrich with a reasoning more solid and
better sustained, but not with a more certain experience,
and greater frankness than I give it.
I agree that I cannot give it to all equally, because
according as the planet or the sign that rules is in
the ascendant or descendant (Appogee, perigee), or as
they concur alone, or joined with other stars of
different quality, there are some who have the faculty
of discovering generally all sorts of hidden things,
others in whom this faculty is very weak, or limited
to discover only certain things.
I2
For example, some discover only water, others only
mines, others one sort of metal, some only boundaries,
in fine, some to whom the rod turns in rising against the
stomach, and others to whom it turns in descending
to the earth. But, however it may be after making
the experiments each will take it after his own way,
and all we need observe is that afterwards in speak-
ing of him who holds the rod, one must always under-
stand that the experiments, spoken of ought to be made
by one having this faculty entire or in part, and that
by the terms rod, forked stick, &c., we understand
only one and the same thing.
CHAPTER II.
OF THE QUALITY OF THE ROD.
THERE are many who think that the particular talent
of a man does not suffice for the discovery of hidden
things, that he must have besides a specific instrument
formed by nature, or destined for this use.
It is why
K

JACOB'S ROD.
13
they would choose a certain wood to the exclusion of
another, and for this reason they say the green is
preferable to the dry, and, amongst the green, that
which has the most pith and the most sap has the
most effect, for they say its humidity, being of the
nature of springs, has more inclination to find its
like, hence why they say that the hazel, which has
never borne fruit, the white thorn, the wild plum, the
willow, and other similar ones, are absolutely necessary
for such an operation. But this is an error which can
be proved by reason and experience, for the reason,
too, that if it were so one must believe that which is
not, that the faculty (power) is in the wood alone,
that these kinds would produce the same effect to all
generally, without distinction of the ascendant, and,
in fine, that the kinds of woods growing in the most
moist places, or in places containing mines, would be
more suited than others to this purpose, because
having their roots in the water; by touching with their
extremities mines upon which they are grown and
have been nourished, they would have been able to
retain from them some quality or rapport which would
give them a natural inflexion to their centre as to their
common country. This error is proved also by ex-
perience, which teaches us that all sorts of wood of
every kind have an equally rapid and violent move-
ment, and that it is indifferent whether it be green
or dry, whether it has been cut by him who uses it or
by another, whether it is pithy or not, and though the
green wood ought to prevail over the dry, because
being full of sap, and the pores more open, transpira-
tion should be more prompt. Nevertheless it seems
?

14
JACOB'S ROD.
that if one ought to choose the dry would be prefera-
ble to the green, because, wanting moisture, it would
be more inclined to search for it, and to bend or turn
for that purpose in those places where it is. But as
we have said this choice is useless, because they all
serve equally, and that if one need make one, it is
rather for convenience than necessity; I mean that in
use the softest and least rough are more convenient
than the others, though they are not of greater effect,
whence I draw this conclusion that this virtue or
power is not attached to the wood, nor to the instru-
ment one uses, but rather to the efficiency of blood
of him who uses it. It is the blood which causes the
wood to turn by the impression it communicates to
it at the moment the man takes it with his two hands,
so that this instrument, whatever its quality, is only a
signal of which the man makes use to indicate to him
the movement of his blood upon what there is hidden.
A mark of this truth is that the dry wood, of what-
jever nature it may be, turns as easily as the green,
and not only the wood, but also iron, silver, brass,
wire, whalebone, and other supple and solid matters,
excepting in the cases which we will name afterwards.
CHAPTER III.
ON THE FORM OF THE ROD.
HOLY Scripture teaches us that the patriarch Jacob
placed some striped rods in the fountains where he
watered the cattle of his father-in-law, Laban, so that
the impression he had given to them in striping them
should communicate itself to the animals whilst drink-
F
JACOB'S ROD.
15
ing, and from them to the little ones to which they
would give birth, which has given rise to some to call
by the name of Jacob's rod all those they used for
the purpose of giving or receiving some impression,
and as the forked stick receives a considerable one
it has acquired the preceding title; it has also
received the name of the Patriarch. There are others
who, seduced by the similarity of the effect of this
rod with that of Moses, give it the same name, not
only because this is susceptible of impression from all
kind of matters, as that of Moses was in all the forms
he wished to give to it, but also because they say that
the miracle that Moses produced in causing water to
flow from the rock of Horeb is in some measure re-
produced in using this one, by the facility it gives in
finding springs in the bosom of the earth or in the
hollow of the rocks. But without insisting on these
etymologies, which have more of the brilliant than of
the solid, since use has fixed it, and that this one
serves not only for the discovery of water, but also of
all hidden things, we will leave it the name of Jacob's
rod, and as that which the Patriarch used was only a
stick, such as is generally carried in the hand, many
have desired that the one used in the discovery of
hidden things should be of that form. It seems that
their opinion is not without foundation, not only
because it is certain that every kind of rod, as well as
every other supple and solid thing which one carries,
turns in the hand of him who is born under the planet
of which we have spoken, at the moment in which he
passes over some spring or mine or hidden thing, but
also because in order to ascertain if a person really
1377
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JACOB'S ROD.
has this faculty we make him hold his hand open
with a stick, similar to the one we have just spoken of,
upon the palm of his open hand, and, in the event of
its turning or shewing movement in passing over the
thing sought for, one concludes that he has this faculty
or more, and that the experiment is without fraud, and
that is represented in the figure D.
Experience has taught that the simple movement
of the rod is not enough to indicate positively the place
where the thing is hidden, one has introduced the use
of the forked stick made in this form (somewhat like
the letter Y) possibly because its movement is
more rapid and perceptible, or possibly because in
turning in the hand it indicates and marks with the
point the place where the hidden thing is, so that it
appears as though all the virtue of this indication is
enclosed in this point, and that the impression which
the stick receives from the two hands which hold it on
both sides transfers itself to this extremity in order to
shew us what we seek for, from which we draw this
certain conclusion, that it is exactly in the place, and
opposite to the place where this point lowers itself,
that we must dig to find what we seek. I prove this
truth not only by natural reason, which teaches us
that united forces have more power, and that the im-
pression which the stick receives by its two extremi-
ties, communicating and uniting at the end, gives more
force to the indication, as being more abundant and
vigorous, but also by the experience, inasmuch that if
one hides water or metals in two different places, at
about a foot's distance from each other, or from that
of the extremities of the stick, when the point shall

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JACOB'S ROD.
17
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be placed over the one or the other, it will infallibly
descend, and if carried into the middle, the two hands
being above each to the opposite, it will not descend
at all, which clearly justifies the inference we have
drawn, that this point serves to mark more justly and
certainly the place of the concealed thing. The form
of which we have just spoken is also more useful than
the simple rod, because one must sometimes dig and
search in the clefts of the rocks where mines are,
upon the edge of steep places where boundaries may
be found, and in other places where space is so limited
that the smallness of the place would impede the free
movement of the rod, and one would not be able to
find the thing sought for, were it not indicated by the
end of the forked stick, which being only one foot
longer or less can easily be carried everywhere.
There is still a reason which inclines us to say that
this stick ought to be, it is that if in a same space, or
in a small distance, there are many things of different
natures hidden. As the stick would give equal move-
ment for all, one would never be able to distinguish of
the kinds, as we will presently shew, if the smallness
of the stick does not leave us a space to pass from the
place of the one to that of the other in order to observe
the different causes of its movement.
CHAPTER IV.
%
OF THE MANNER OF HOLDING JACOB'S ROD AND
HOW IT TURNS.
Ir is indifferent how one holds the rod, and each
person, according to the power of his ascendant, by

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JACOB'S ROD.
his prudence and by use, may take a particular posture,
as may be most convenient and useful, to make his
discovery. However, as those who have not yet
practised may be embarassed by ignorance of its use,
they will here learn that there are three ways the
most usual and frequent to hold it; the first is to hold
it straight, the point uppermost, and the backs of the
two points closed, against the ground, in this way,
marked by the figure A.
The second way is to hold it flat (lying down), the
point in front, and the backs of the two points which
close it turned against the body, thus, as represented
in the figure B.
And the third in a posture which is the middle
between these two, by which one holds the point
neither entirely up nor entirely in front, but between,
as the figure C represents. When one holds it in
the first way, in turning it springs up generally against
the stomach; when held in the second way in turning
it generally descends towards the ground; and when
held in the third way it turns indifferently, sometimes
on one side, sometimes on the other.
It often does the same in the two first, but from the
want of certainty which occurs then, in one and the
other, we will draw a certain rule, in order to know
the width of the hidden things, their depth, the per-
ception of springs, of mines, and the boundaries of
other matters. As over the width its movement is
always uniform, that is to say, that those to whom it
turns with a downward movement find a similar move-
ment as long as they walk over the space of the width,
and when whilst still walking its movement begins to
1
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JACOB'S ROD.
19
f
change, that is, when instead of turning downwards it
rises towards the stomach, they know that they enter
on the space of the depth, they know, likewise, that
they are following the length of a spring, of a mine,
or of a limit. When after having seen the movement
of lowering over the width, the contrary over the
depth, it gives a similar one for the length, that is
also in rising against the stomach. Although the
third manner of holding the rod does not appear of
great utility, because the switch, as we have said,
turning indifferently, sometimes on one side, some-
times on the other, it appears as if one cannot so
well distinguish the space of the depth of the hidden
thing. It has, however, its conveniences, because
being neither too much raised, nor too much lowered,
its movement is more prompt and more perceptible,
when it rises against the stomach, or when it lowers
towards the ground, because, having only a quarter of
a turn to make in order to rise or fall, it is consequently
more easy for it to bend on one side or the other;
so that each way of holding the stick has its con-
veniences, but to use either with success, after having
tried them all, it is well to make to oneself a rule to
hold it moderately, and always evenly tight, so that
one can judge in this equality of the more or of the
less of the violence of its movement, otherwise its
movement will never be so perceptible, since in one
case the violence one does oneself in tightening it too
much prevents part of the discernment and sensibility;
on the other hand, in not sufficiently tightening the hold,
the impression is not so strong, and the movement
cannot be so perceptible.
;
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JACOB'S ROD.
Besides this it is necessary to walk slowly in making
this research, for fear the too great activity, or the too
large steps, should cause us to perceive the movement
only after having passed the place which caused it,
and, in losing the place where we ought to dig, we
lose by our quickness what we seek with so much
care. The form and the different ways of holding
the rod make us see the little foundation of those who
pretend that it turns in proportion as one places the
foot over the hidden thing, inasmuch as it is not only
the passing of the body over the thing which gives
the movement to the rod, but also that of the rod.
This truth can easily be proved in stretching forward
the arms of the stick only over the hidden thing and
it will be seen that the point will descend or ascend
before one or both feet are placed there. What con-
firms what we have advanced is that the virtue (power)
is attached rather to the hands which hold the rod,
and which communicate the movement of the blood,
than to the other parts of the body which do not touch
it. Thus when one says ordinarily that the 10d turns
in proportion as one puts the foot over the hidden
thing, it is an expression which figuratively expresses
a part for the whole, or one part for the other. Before
finishing this chapter I ought to explain the causes of
the different movements of the rod, as well upon the
length, as the width, and the depth, but after putting
the first in the sixth chapter, before finishing this I
will observe that the difference of the movement upon
the width and upon the depth is founded upon a
natural reason, though its effect does not appear extra-
ordinary, inasmuch as the movement which the rod
20
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JACOB'S ROD.
2I
gives, either above or below, proceeding only as we
shall establish presently from subtle bodies of the
nature of the hidden thing, which, occupying per-
pendicularly in the air all its space, attract and cause
to bend (by the impression which they give to the
blood) the stick towards the place which incloses it as
if to indicate it to him. It is not extraordinary that
the stick takes a different movement when it leaves
the space, because the subtle bodies which it draws
with it in leaving it and trying to return to their centre,
and being drawn there by the others, or by their
natural inclination, cause it to make a circular move-
ment backwards like their own, and consequently
different from that they made when they occupied the
space. The demonstration of this reason is found in
going up or down the course of a spring, because
these subtle bodies, being agitated otherwise than they
are in crossing it, cause a different movement in the rod.
CHAPTER V.
HOW ONE MAY KNOW IN GENERAL HOW TO DISTINGUISH
HIDDEN THINGS BY JACOB'S ROD.
THOSE who seek hidden things often find only as a
recompense for their labour and the excessive expense
they have made in order to dig, only a piece of stone,
of iron, or some metal, instead of the spring they were
seeking, and, on the contrary, when wishing for a metal,
they find nothing, or a spring so abundant that it
would rather inundate than water. This error arises
22
JACOB'S ROD.
from not knowing the nature of the hidden things,
and from not knowing before digging if they are of
the quality sought for. It seems at first that this
knowledge is impossible, and that unless the earth
were of crystal, or that there were a window to look
into it, such as an ancient wished in the heart of man,
what the former contains is as hidden as the thoughts
of the latter are impenetrable. However, experience
daily teaches us the contrary, and shows us at the
same time that this knowledge is infallible, by
observing the things that follow. To be persuaded
of it, one must allow two principles, equally incontest-
able, which will serve as a basis for all discoveries, and
as a foundation for all which we shall say. The first
that the rod turns over, any hidden thing, of whatever
nature it may be, source, mine, metal, mineral, limit,
and other things of the kind. The second that
apparent things of the same nature take away the
movement the one from the other, when seeking them,
for example, water, metals, and hidden things give no
movement to those of the same nature that are
apparent. In a word, the yisible thing of the same
nature as the hidden one takes away and stops the
movement which the rod had over the hidden one.
I will give under a separate head the reason of these
two principles, and in this I shall prove them by
experience. It is certain the rod never turns without
a cause, and if in carrying it we find some move-
ment, although we do not at first know the exact
material, we ought to conclude that there is a hidden
thing in the place where the movement was found.
And as the difficulty is to know if it is for water, for
:
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JACOB'S ROD.
23
}
a metal, for a limit, or some other hidden thing,
we can distinguish and know its nature by applying
successively at the end of the rod many different kinds,
as gold, silver, copper, lead, a linen or a paper wetted
the size of an inch, &c., until we have found the one
which stops this movement. Then by the principle
which we have established on the subject, you must hold
it as certain that the hidden thing is of the same
nature, as that which is at the end of the rod, and that
the effect ceases by the same cause which produces it.
This principle is certain when there is only a single
thing hidden capable of producing this movement
But if there are many different ones which cause this
movement, we remain always in the same uncertainty,
because one kind only does not stop it, when there
are others hidden which have the power of moving
the rod. For example, a spring flowing in a mine, or
in a leaden or brass pipe, will cause the rod to turn,
but the mine, lead, copper, or tin in the pipe will do
so also, so that the power of the one kind will not
stop the movement, whilst there are others which
cause it. When, then, we have placed a wet linen rag at
the end of the rod it will not cease turning, for the lead,
copper, solder or the single pipe, when the spring no
longer flows. Therefore we can only discover all these
different kinds except by our putting at the end of
the rod or in the hollow of the hand, in such a way
as that it shall touch them, as many different kinds as
may be hidden, such as lead, tin, copper, &c., &c.,
because then it will stop, and will have no more move-
ment for the reasons we shall name after.
also occur that at the place of a spring, we may have
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JACOB'S ROD.
This treasure
made a limit, or hidden a treasure.
may be enclosed in a casket, ornamented with nails of
iron or of silver, closed with a steel lock, or may be
in an earthen vessel, or one of tin, of cast iron, or of
metal; it is sure the rod will turn for all these kinds,
and that we cannot stop its movement unless by
making it touch all at the same time. Which brings
me on to say that in order to enlighten oneself truly,
we must at first make these experiments for all the
kinds individually, and where it is seen that there is not
one that stops the rod, touch it with several at once,
until its movement is stopped by the influence of all
those which are hidden. After seeing the kinds that have
stopped it, we ought to conclude, as a natural infer-
ence, that there are as many hidden as there were that
touched it at the same time. When we have recognised
the kind buried, still we do not know its quantity,
nor its true quality, if it is a spring or stagnant water,
a gold coin or a mine of that metal, a mine or a bar
of iron, a mine or a copper coin, &c., and it is not in-
compatible that all these things, or a good part of them,
may be found nearly at the same place. In order to
know it, it is only necessary to follow the movement
of the rod, whilst ascending and descending, after
going over the place cross-wise where the movement
was felt; if it is a spring you thus discover the place.
from whence it springs, and whither it flows, which
we could not find in a pond. By this means we
distinguish also the piece of metal from the mine,
because this last, having veins, or threads, we follow
the vein going up and descending, which we cannot
(do in a piece of metal, bar of iron, or vessel of
!
:

J
25
JACOB'S ROD.
cast iron, &c., which, having only a limited space,
cause the rod to turn in this space, which is
never of such an extent as the spring or mine. The
way to follow the spring or mine is not difficult,
by remarking what we have said in the preceding
chapter, that the rod always turns in the same way
when one crosses over them, and that it turns differ-
ently in returning, or when you go the least from the
track. This manner of recognising the mine, or the
springs, serves also to distinguish them from other
hidden things, for on one side, that over all the rest
the rod turns equally, over their length and over their
width; and on the other it shows us the difference of
the spring which generally only goes on serpentinely,
from the limit which goes always straight, and from
that which is neither mine nor spring, from that which
is, by the little limited space which encloses the first.
And though there may be other things almost as
extended as the mine, and the subterranean water, as,
for example, a source conducted by pipes of lead or
other metal, they can also as easily be distinguished
by the solderings of the pipes, as by other influences
which they have, inasmuch as we cannot stop the
movement of the rod upon these solderings or on the
other alloys, except by making it touch tin or metals of
the same nature as the alloys, which is absolutely
useless. When there is only one source or one mine,
we can also in the same way distinguish the place
where the source loses itself, from that where it is still
in the pipe, as water, tin, and lead would be necessary
in order to stop it in the place where the pipe is
enclosed, and the lead and tin suffice for that where it
C
i

ادر
Q
26
JACOB'S ROD.
no longer runs, which is a great help, when one wishes
to give up a spring, to avoid digging, and to discover
without need other places than that where it fails.
All these things are certain and easy to prove, it is
only necessary to hide the things over which one
desires to experiment, and the truth of what I have
advanced will be found. But we must be careful of
two things, the first, that he who makes the search
does not deprive himself of the power of making the
discovery, which may happen to him, if, by example,
he have silver buckles, or nails in his shoes, gold rings,
&c., or other metals concealed in his clothes, so that
the rod would turn to him as easily for what he wore
as for the other things hidden.
The second, that the rod must not be of the same
nature as the hidden thing, that is to say, of gold,
silver, or brass wire, or whalebone, to seek for things
of this nature, as it is evident that it would not turn
for the same kinds of which it is composed, and this
is the case that I have excepted in the second chapter,
where I said it turned of whatever material it might
be. This also determined me, that it is more sure,
and of greater utility, to use one of wood, because the
movement of that can never be stopped by another of
the same quality. Having removed all that can oppose
itself to our intention, he who makes the trial must
know two things; the first, that the rod will turn
infallibly over the hidden things; the second, that it
will stop by the application of a similar matter to the
hidden thing.
11
mwangan)
EXCHANGE KADA
4

JACOB'S ROD.
27
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}
CHAPTER VI.
HOW TO DISCOVER IN PARTICULAR, MINES AND HIDDEN
METALS.
THOUGH in the preceding chapter we have shewn in
general the manner of discovering hidden things, and
though it seems that what we have said of it ought to
give a perfect idea of what to do, still, as there are
many particular observations in each kind, which can
only be known by long experience, I have thought it
necessary to make a special chapter upon what ought
to be noticed whilst making the search for metals,
mines, and minerals. Those who search for metals
would not wish to find water; on the contrary, as it
might deceive them in causing the rod to turn, the
same as the metal which may be above or under, and
may cause them an excessive expense to exhaust it
from the mine when it is found with it, they would
prefer that there should not be any at all. To extri-
cate one from this embarrassment one tries before.
every thing to ascertain if there is any spring in the
place where the rod turns, and in order to discover it
at the time of the search, one has the precaution of
putting a wet rag at the end of the rod, and when one
sees that this linen does not stop this movement, one
knows at once, either that there is no water, or that if
there is, it is joined with some other matter that con-
tinues this movement. As this matter can only be a
metal, a mineral, &c., after having touched it with
C 2
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ܘܠܐ
i
*

F
28
JACOB'S ROD.
several metals or minerals, &c., without their stopping,
one draws again this conclusion, that there are no
metals or minerals, &c., in these places, or tha. with.
them there are also other kinds which continue this
movement, such as a dead body, a boundary, &c, for
a dead body one must touch it with some rotten or
putrified animal matter. For limits we will treat of
them in another chapter.
It is, then, a certain rule that for the search for
metals, one must have the precaution, above all things,
Ist, of a wet linen at the end of the rod; 2nd, to
furnish oneself with as many different kinds of metals
or minerals as one thinks may be contained, and as
the virtue of stopping is not affixed to the quantity,
but to the quality, one easily judges that the pieces.
are not likely to be very large, and that it suffices that
they are of the weight of a crown of gold; 3rd, one
should split the rod with two or three clefts, or more,
so that one can put in the clefts the kinds with which
one desires to touch it, but for fear that in making
these clefts across, the two branches do not separate,
you must make them on the side of the branches, and
in case one cannot put in all the kinds in the clefts
one has made, you can place the rest in the hollow of
the hand which touches the rod.
´It is also held as a rule that the kinds do not oppose
each other, and that when, for example, instead of
three kinds that are hidden, one would touch the rod
with six, either at the end or in the hand, it is certain
that the three superfluous ones will not prevent its
movement, as the defect of one of the three could
continue it. All that this abundance can produce, is
}
1

JACOB'S ROD.
29
confusion and embarrassment, to know which of the
six are not there; to extricate oneself, one must try as
often separately and conjoin ly, that one may find at
last the only three which stop it, and at the same time
one knows the superfluous ones.
It is also important to remark that if the kinds of
which one makes use to stop are not entirely of the
same quality as the hidden ones, they will not stop,
whence it follows that neither fine gold nor silver will
stop for false (inferior), nor the false for the fine
(common), tin for fine, nor iron for steel. That is,
indeed, very important in this case, when there are
two kinds of hidden things in two different places, in
order to know in which place is the false, and in which
is the real or fine. It appears surprising that steel,
which is only a refined iron, does not stop the move-
ment for iron, but the surprise ceases when one
remarks that this refinement gives it a different quality,
by the alloy which enters into its composition, the
same as with the alloy of gold and of silver.
An open mine is a kind of exception to this rule,
as much as in the state that it issues from the bosom
of the earth, it stops the movement for iron, and
iron does so for it, although that seems to imply
because the other bodies with which it is still
enveloped before being cleansed ought to give it a
quality different from iron, nevertheless they produce
respectively the same effects, the reason of it is with-
out doubt, that the iron being melted and purified does
not change its nature by being freed from the hetero-
genous substances which enveloped it, like stee, which
by its alloy makes a composite of a different nature.
کیا

30
JACOB'S ROD.
In a word, the iron enveloped by the thick matters of
the mine which contains it can arrest the movement
on itself, the same as it can upon the mine, but steel
ceasing to be iron, by the alloy of which it is composed,
the one can no longer arrest the movement of the
other. One can extend the consequence of the mine
of iron to others of different quality; for example,
a piece of silver mine will stop the movement for
silver, and silver for the mine, &c., and the same as
that steel does not stop the movement for iron; the
composition of this metal will not stop the movement
for the mine, or the mine for the composition, the same
as one may know it by the trial upon fine or inferior
silver.
There is stil a very curious and necessary observa-
tion in the search for mines. It is that there is one
part which is so abundant in sulphur and antimor.y,
that they dominate over the metal with which they
are mixed. There are other finer ones where the
metal dominates over the sulphur and the antimony.
In the first kind it might happen that the metal alone
could not stop the movement over the mine, because,
being, as it were, enveloped in a great abundance of
sulphur and antimony, the rod would not turn for
the metal alone, therefore one must be provided with
a little sulphur and antimony in order to stop its
movement; in the second, the metal alone suffices to
stop it, which enables us to judge of the fineness
(purity) of the mine, because the quantity of the
metal exceeds that of the antimony.
Doubt ess, it will not be useless to give in this
chapter a means of distinguishing springs and mines
܀܀
་་
INT
:
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JACOB'S ROD.
31
蕾
​:

from other hidden things, of which we have spoken
in the preceding chapter. I mean that one may know
one is over a spring or mine when, in crossing over it,
the rod turns and lowers, and that in rising up again
it turns towards the stomach, when one follows the
length, which does not happen when there is only one
separate metal in the mine, or some other thing en-
closed in a limited space, inasmuch as then its move-
ment is always uniform in the length and in the width,
and it does not change at all unless one goes out of
the space this thing occupies. Here is the reason of
this difference, the veins and threads of the mines
being affixed to the trunk, like the branches are to the
tree, there emanate con.inually vegetable spirits,
which concur in its length to the perfection and to the
nourishment of all the parts of this tree. When the
man mounts over the space of one of these threads
(veins) the subtle parts which emanate from him are
drawn by these spirits, and by the shock which they
receive from it they are obliged to return to him, and
though the man does not feel the movement from it,
the rod which receives the impression that these same
subtle parts cause him, is obliged to follow their
inclination and to return behind like them. One finds
the demonstration of this truth in a body which ascends
a running stream, inasmuch, as where it is drawn by
its movement, or, if it has strength to resist it, it makes
in the particles of this element a circular movement
around it, which give the same impression to mobile.
things as are attached to it. But it is not the same
with metals separated from the mine, because being in
their perfection and separated from the matrix or from

7
32
JACOB'S ROD.
the source from which they derived their nourishment,
this concourse or this transport of vegetable spirits is
no longer made towards them.
It is only the particles or subtle bodies which
exhale from themselves that cause the movement of
the rod, these subtle bodies exhale equally in all the
space which the metals occupy, and produce conse-
quently only an equal movement in the length and in
the width. One ought, therefore, to hold the maxims
of which we have just spoken as constant (a rule),
and it often happens that by wars, and by the lapse
o time, by the overturning of edifices, and by inun-
dations, many metals are found enclosed in the bosom
of the earth, there will be no difficulty in distinguishing
them in the future, if one follows the precepts which
we have given, and if in the old and dilapidated or
other places believed to enclose something, wet linen
does not stop the movement of the rod, one must
search in form of a cross over the places where it turns,
in order to discover if the movement is different in
the width and in the length, and when it is proved to
be uniform everywhere, one may boldly conclude that
this movement is caused, neither by a spring, nor by a
mine, that it must be a metal or some other thing, and
afterwards make the different trials of the metals untie
you have discovered those that are hidden. For
example, if there are arms, the rod will turn equally in
the length and in the width of the space which they
occupy; but you must not believe that the iron
alone stops its movement, as there is steel, others
that are ornamented with silver or other metals 5;
to stop the movement you must touch with these
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JACOB'S ROD.
33
metals, and when it stops one can in some mea-
sure know their quality, in the same way as one
knows their depth in the earth, by what we shall
say presently.
÷

It often happens that after having observed all these
rules, put the wet rag at the bottom of the rod, and
touched it with all these metals in detail, and together,
its movement still does not stop, so that one finds
oneself in the same doubt (difficulty) as before making
the trial. This is the true cause of it; it is that the
rod turns also for coal, and for all other minerals, such
as mercury, sulphur, antimony, ochre, and their com-
posites in which they dominate, as gypsum, red chalk
(not the black, in which there is no cinnabar), and also
others, so that if the metals do not suffice to stop the
movement, we must again try these minerals and their
compositions in any way one can think of, until we
has found the one which was wanted to stop the
movement. We may then recommence the trial, by
taking away one of the kinds which touched besides
the last which stopped it, and the rod remaining with-
out movement, we may conclude that there is none of
that, and so on consecutively; and when in taking
away some one, it is seen to begin to move, you may
be sure that there is a similar one hid, and so on
successively, until you have taken away all those which
do not stop its movement.
¦
}
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十
​100
34
JACOB'S ROD.
CHAPTER VII.
BY WHAT MEANS ONE MAY KNOW THE WIDTH OF
THE HIDDEN SPRINGS AND MINES.
I HAVE already stated that the rod turns in descending
towards the earth every time one crosses the source
or mine, and that when one re-ascends them, and has
passed across the space which they occupy, it turns in
remounting towards the stomach. This rule will suffice
to make us know at first the width of both, but as
the knowledge of the width is an indispensable
necessity, whether because the large source or mine
gives more hope of their abundance, or because one
may deceive oneself, because there are mines and
sources which, according to the disposition of the
land which encloses them, are larger and more abun-
dant in certain pieces than in others, and which ex-
tend where there are branches according as it is sandy
or mixed with stone, or by the point of a rock. We
have been unable to avoid making a separate chapter
upon what is necessary to be observed on this point..
The first thing one must observe to well find the
width is to hold the rod in the second and third ways,
of which we have spoken in the fourth chapter, that
is to say, couchee, lying or half-lying, whether because
in lowering itself easily in this posture it better follows
the inclination, whether, also, because by holding it
straight, when it would lower, it might turn against
+
thony when arena, orturus fubrivoa,
·
JACOB'S ROD.
35
the stomach the same as over the length of the
source, and thus one might deceive oneself if one did
not hold it in one of these two ways which we have
named. There is a second observation to make in
order to distinguish the source which passes in the
sand or gravel from the other kinds mentioned. It is
that one must carefully examine if the rod forces
equally upon all the width, or if there are places
where it forces less than in others. In the last case
it is a mark or sign that a part of the source is lost in
the gravel or in the sand, and in the first that it is in
the rock, or in fuller's earth, which does not permit it to
extend itself, which helps much to prevent useless
and excessive expense in hollowing (digging) for
sources which may be judged from the depth and
the aspect of the place to be in the rock. Having
observed what is above, you may make the trial upon
a bridge. It will be seen that he who passes, walking
slowly, and holding the rod in the manner named
above, in proportion as he enters, and that he finds
himself perpendicularly opposite to the first stone of
the arch which touches the water, his rod will begin
to`turn in lowering its point towards the ground, and
will turn always the same until he is at the end of
the bridge, perpendicularly opposite to the first stone
which touches the water on the other side of the arch.
The movement wil be different in the rod, and will
turn in ascending towards the stomach as if it wished
to return or re-unite itself to what it had just left.
One may also make the same trial upon a source
conducted through pipes of which one knows the
thickness and width. It will be seen that the water
He Hücke both
Veer be
We
Ka dia pene dumbed dow
Jule Grie Sushi. Hias
ہے
Aux of
ofily
for
#

1
P
36
JACOB'S ROD.
which is in these pipes is only at the most three or
four inches of width, and that the rod will only turn
or lower its point upon crossing for about this space,
of three or four inches, and if one has not the con-
venience of a spring in order to make the trial, water
may be put into a tub, cover it with a board, and bury
it a foot deep, or the depth desired, and, after passing
over it with the rod, you will see the same effect as
over a bridge, or over a source conducted by pipes.
The same trial may be used for metals, and you must
only put in the tub a sufficient quantity of them as to
cover the bottom, then you will find that the rod will
lower over all the space occupied by these metals,
after which one may boldly draw this conclusion,
that the width of mines and of minerals is to be found
in the same way as that of springs. The experience.
which we have just given of the bridge or of the foun-
tain conducted by pipes, may also serve to teach us to
know when we are over the length of springs and
mines, inasmuch that after having seen the point of
the rod turn in lowering over the width, if we re-mount
the spring or the course of a river, we see the rod
turning, in re-mounting, against the stomach, which
tells us we are over the length by the reasons given in
the preceding chapter. Before finishing this one I
ought to make some reflections which will indicate to
us better the necessity of bringing oneself to well
know the width. The first is that there are sources
which may be entirely upon the limit of two depths
(bottoms), and which will follow them even at whatever
running distance, half over one, half over the other,
that may happen even in places when one has no
+
}

I
JACUB'S ROD.
37
(
S
!

longer the desire to find them, as it is not permitted
to dig on our neighbour's land. Knowing that a part of
the width is in ours, we may dig there boldly, and
draw there by the opening we make, or by the slant
we give, nɔt only the half of the water, but the entire
source. The second concerns those to whom the rod
turns in proportion as they approach the place which
contains the mine or spring, inasmuch as if by a long
experience they do not accustom themselves to dis-
tinguish the place of his approach of the space they
occupy, they would often take the change, and dig in
the first instead of the last for sources or metals which
they expect to find; they would only have the con-
fusion of having lost their trouble by digging in vain.
In order to avoid this, one must consider, first, that in
the approach the rod turns almost on all things in an
equal distance, and the same on every side across.
If by example with sources, or hidden things that are
known to us, we remark that in approaching them it
turns for two or three feet on each side, we can judge
by this distance of that of the things which are not
known to us; secondly, that the rod never forces as
much in the approach as over the width.
There are
some, even, who feel only a very litle movement
from it. On approaching it thus it is not difficult
to them to distinguish the place where it does not force
from that where it does force; thirdly, we must
measure on each side of the mine, or of the source,
the dis.ance which is usual to us for the movement of
the approach, and after taking the middle, which will
be doubtless in the space of the width, and that where
the rod joins the most; fourth, in order to assure

38
JACOB'S ROD.
oneself if this space is that of the width, one must
know, that when one ascends or descends a mine or
spring, the rod only gives a movement over the true
space which they occupy, thus one has only to remount
the space which one has marked, and if the rod con-
tinues the movement, it is a sure sign one is over the
width, and that it is from this place that one ought to
seek the depth, as we shall say, afterwards. The
third reflexion is for those to whom the rod ordinarily
turns in ascending against the stomach, so that if the
movement, which is imperfect and irregular, does not
appear sufficient to them to indicate the width, there
are still means by which they may assure themselves.
of it, like those of which the movement is irregular.
The first is to assure themselves as above, by the two
sides of the source or the mine, of the places where
the rod forces them least, and to mark with pegs those
where the movement begins to be more rapid, and
the distance between these two pegs will be that of the
width. And if there is none, because that on each
side the rapidity of the movement only begins in the
same place, or in the place where one has put the first
peg, it is a sure sign that the source or mine is very
small, or that they are enclosed in this place, since
they occupy so little space. The second is, that
where the width is found near the first peg, or between
the two, to make sure of it, ascend again the mine or
source as above, and if the rod gives movement, it is
a proof by the rule we have applied to it, that one is
over the true width, and thus, in re-ascending the mine
or spring, one has only to go out on each side of the
space made by the width, and mark there with a peg.
:

JACOB'S ROD.
39
each extremity where the movement ceased, and the
distance of these pegs will again be that of the width
it is a mark the more convincing, if this distance is
found to be equal to that of the first two pegs put
down. I do not doubt one may have difficulty to
know why the rod gives a movement after having
crossed the width in a straight line, and why it gives
none when one leaves it obliquely, in going up or
going down, but this difficulty will cease if you
consider that, in the first case, the man who walks in
front draws with him certain subtle particles of the
source or mine, which wanting to re-unite themselves
to those which they have left, continue the movement
of the rod by the effort which they make in returning,
thus it will be more particularly observed in some
other place; but in the second as the man leaves the
side, these particles, instead of following him at the
moment when he is at the extremity of this width,
disperse or glide on and follow the natural inclination
of the others.
This truth is clearly demonstrated by those who
with a flat rod cross the flames in a straight line,
theflat part of the rod being horizontal, by which
process the rod is enabled to draw with itself some of
the flames for a little space. But, on the contrary,
if one were to cross the flames with the rod, the flat
part being vertical, none or very little of the
particles of the flames would be so drawn. The last
reflection we have to make is concerning those to
whom the rod only gives movement over certain kinds,
and not over all, as they will then make the trials of
i
which we have spoken above. If they do not find
Anubs Mil
¡
:
A

40
JACOB'S ROD,
what they expected to find they will feel discouraged,
and will believe them defective, or that their move-
ment is not sufficient to make discoveries; but that
ought not to discourage them, on the contrary, I
advise them to assure themselves by many trials of
things to which their movement answers, and having
found them, to keep only to the discovery of the
kinds which are peculiar to them. And amongst
those who have this faculty in its perfection, there are
almost as many different kinds of movement as of
temperaments amongst men. To know the difference
of their own from that of others, they should try as
much as they can with their friends to whom the rod
also gives movement, and by these different trials they
will know certainly for which they are fit, and will
form for themselves a routine, or a certain habit to use
so as usefully to employ their talent.
CHAPTER VIII.
1
BY WHAT MEANS ONE MAY KNOW THE DEPTH OF
SOURCES OR METALS.
THE knowledge of the width of springs or mines is
useless without that of their depth; this last is even of
more importance, without it one cannot calculate one's
expense with the benefit one expects to receive from
the thing whose discovery one desires to make. If the
metal is too deep, or in rocks difficult of access, the
trouble or the expense may exceed the profit one may
receive from its possession. If the spring is not in
JACOB'S ROD.
4%
t

an elevation proportioned to the incline that we desire,
its discovery is more hurtful than profitable to us.
We must then necessarily try as much as we can to
discover exactly the distance from the depth, and as
the preceding chapters have only given us a confused
idea of the way to set about it (that is the discovery
of springs, mines, &c.) this one will teach the
rules that we must use, and the necessary experiences
to enlighten us. The first is that when we have found
the width of a source or of a mine, and that one
know, by the contrary movement that the rod begins
to give in ascending towards the stomach, that we are
at its extremity, we should mark with a peg the
place where this contrary movement began to be felt,
and afterwards walk slowly from this peg until we have
again remarked that this movement has ceased, or
begins to cease. Then mark this place by a second peg,
and afterwards one has only to measure from this last
to the first, and the depth will be found in the distance
which separates them. I mean to say that there will
be as many inches, feet, or yards, from the surface of
the earth to the place which encloses the hidden
thing, as there will be from one peg to another. The
second thing necessary to clearly find the depth is to try
to assure oneself by some sign that the trial we have
just made is not defective. The first is to seek for it
on the other side of the width, and to plant there two
pegs in the same way in order to see if the distances
are equal, which is a true mark of the depth. The
second is that we should stop a little in the place
where the rod remains motionless, to 'assure oneself
that it has no further movement, and then advance a
D
!
guilla
¿
A
1

COMARARUMA.
42
JACOB'S ROD.
step or two, and if the rod begins to turn downwards,
as over the width, this contrary movement marks
infallibly that the place we have just left is that of its
depth. The third is that after having advanced seven
or eight steps beyond the second peg, we ought to
retrace our steps to the first peg planted, and if the
space marked is the true width, the rod will remain
always motionless until, beginning to pass beyond the
first peg planted, we shall enter into the width.
I do not doubt that these signs will surprise many
people, but besides the reason of it, which we shall
give in another chapter, we may be assured of it
by the experience which we have related about it on
the bridge, and of a source conducted by pipes. We
shall see that as long as we walk upon the bridge
holding the rod, in the second or third manner, it will
turn towards the earth as we have said, but at the
moment we begin to leave the bridge, it will turn
ascending towards the stomach, until we are at the
distance that there is from the surface of the bridge to
the water, after which it will remain without move-
ment, and if having stopped a little in this space we
wish to take a step beyond it, the rod will again take
its movement for a little time, and this movement will
take place as over its width, that is to say, it will turn
in lowering itself towards the earth, and if one wishes
afterwards to find the exactness of this trial, one has
only to take a string, and, after having measured from
the surface of the bridge to the water, he will find
the same distance from the extremity of the bridge to
the first place, where the movement ceased. This de
monstration ought to serve for all hidden things. There
!
:

JACOB'S ROD.
43
is, however, this observation to make with regard to
sources, that one cannot discern their depth as exactly
as we have just remarked inasmuch as the water which
passes under a bridge is compressed and limited by
the extremities of the arch, but that of springs, besides
its ordinary canal, penetrates and moistens also a part
of the earth which is at its borders, unless it is in a
rock, so that to avoid deceiving oneself in this case
we must always augment the distance of the peg by
a foot or a foot and a half at the most, according
to the size, for more surety; we also make the same
augmentation with regard to mines and other hidden
things, not only because one never walks so exactly
that we cannot miss the space either in advancing too
much or too little the foot or the rest of the body,
or, also, according as the air is fine or thick, the
particles of the body which cause this movement may
extend, or remain compressed in their limits. These
can, in expanding, give a false movement to the rod
before one is over the width, and, without a great
experience, they cause us to miss the true place, and,
consequently, that of the depth, which one only
draws (calculates) upon the extremities of the width,
and as this error cannot be considerable, because these
particles do not extend very far, it is what has caused
us to say that to avoid deceiving oneself we must at
the most add a foot or a foot and a half. We have
seen in the preceding chapter, when we have spoken
of those to whom the rod turns in approaching the
hidden thing, a sign that the parts which exhale from
the bodies disperse themselves from their true situa-
tion, thus I shall not enlarge to enforce the necessity
D 2
Benah.

}
44
JACOB'S ROD.
of this augmentation of a foot or a foot and a half,
according to the places one has to dig. We must,
also, remark that the knowledge of the depth may be
interrupted by some mine, some vein, some spring,
or some branch which is to be found in the distance
which ought to mark it. To enlighten ourselves we
must make the experiment on another side. For
example, if after the spring or mine which has been.
found, he has walked for the depth and been inter-
rupted on the side the sun rose, he must retrace
his steps, cross the width on the side of its setting,
mark the extremity with a peg, and from this place
walk slowly until the immobility of the rod causes him
to know the depth, and that it is confirmed by his
return to the width without any interruption. If we
find any again on this side, as it may be only branches
of the same spring, or veins of the same mine which
are separated, if the place permit it, we must follow
one of them going up until we have found the source
or trunk, or these two veins, or these two branches
united. We can, without obstacle, find the true depth
in the manner as above, but if the place does not
permit us to follow these branches, as apparently
they are of the same depth, we can only find it by
planting the first peg at the extremity of the width of
the one of those which are at the extremities, and
the second at the place where the rod's movement
ceases, and afterwards do the same with that which is
at the other extremity. If the two distances of depth
are found equal we must conclude that this equality
is the true sign of it, but if there is some disproportion
beyond a foot, it can only be caused by some other

JACOB'S ROD.
45
|
·
1
spring or by some other branch in the intermediate
space, and this it is needful to know in order to gather
all the branches, otherwise, as it often happens, we
may take only one branch and leave the true
and deeper source, and
and so make useless the
measures already taken to make it follow the incline
which the branch might have. This is the only
means to know the depth in places where the know-
ledge of it is interrupted by branches of the source,
or by veins of a mine, that if this interruption comes
from some other hidden thing, such as metal,
boundary, &c., you must measure higher or lower from
the space which enclosed it, and, by thus doing,
be able to find the depth. In a word, in order to
well assure oneself of the depth of a source or mine,
one must necessarily repass four times its width, that
is, once on each side of the source, on the cross in
going away from it, and another time, also, on each
side on the cross in approaching it, in order to discover
if some other branch, or some other hidden thing does
not interrupt the discovery of the depth.
It must also be observed, with regard to the depth of
mines, that according as the veins or threads are
in a straight line, or follow the veins of the earth,
or the clefts of the rock which are peculiar to
them, it is much less in certain places than in
others. For example, a mine whose trunk may be
in a mountain, and whose veins go in a straight
line, will be much less deep in the two inclines of the
mountain than on the top, and, on the contrary, that
which follows the veins of the earth, or the clefts of
the rock, will be much less deep in the summit than

46
JACOB'S ROD.
at the two extremities of the mountain, according to
the disposition (place) of the said veins. What one
ought, also, carefully to observe is following the thread.
in order by this means to discover the other branches
in the event of their being any, and to avoid excessive
expense by digging in places thought the most
convenient, and where one will find it more largely and
more abundant. As to the depth of metals and of
other hidden things, it suffices to find the space they
occupy, as there is neither thread nor vein to follow,
as soon as one has found the place of the movement
(of the rod). One can verify it by four different
places, that is, from the two extremities of the length,
and from the two of the width, and, after having
placed a peg at each of these four places, one ought
to double each when the contrary movement ceases,
and if they are all found in the space which ought to
mark the depth, nearly at an equal distance, one may
be assured to a foot or about a foot and a half
that the hidden thing is in this same distance of depth.
If there are many hidden things in the earth in this
same space, but some deeper than others, take the distance
of the depth the most distant, because in digging they
will be found successively one after the other, other-
wise one would cease to dig at once at the first kind
one might find, thinking there was no more of it, and
one might leave the other kinds under or deeper.
The rules I have given are certain, and if any one
will dig in a place where he believes he has found
something, to enlighten himself about it he can before
digging hide some metals, or some other thing of the
kind, under an arch, in two different places, and,
J
JACOB'S ROD.
47
:
after making the trial himself or by someone else, he
will see that he can distinguish the kinds by observing
all I have said, the length, and the width they occupy,
as well as the depth, but he must take care that in
these arches, or under them, there is no iron or other
metal affixed, because one well sees that would inter-
rupt his trial, unless he touched the rod with iron or
the other metal.
CHAPTER IX.
IF ONE CAN TRULY KNOW THE SIZE OF SOURCES OR
OF MINES.
ALMOST all those who attempt to turn the rod, and who
believe they have some knowledge of its movement,
think to discover nearly the size of a source or that
of a mine by the rapidity, or by the slowness of its
movement. They think that in the place where it is
the quickest and where it forces the most, the source
or the mine is there more abundant, and that when it
is nearly imperceptible, it is a sign of their smallness
and of their sterility. These rules are certain, but
they are not conclusive, I mean they are not sufficient
to discover exactly the quantity of a source or of a
mine. I allow that there are places where the move-
ment is slower than in others, that there are others
where the rod turns in spite of the resistance which we
can make to it, by tightening it in order to stop it,
and that there are others where one can easily stop it,
provided one holds it tighter than usual, but that can
never serve so as to make known the true quantity of
•
4
***

}

48
JACOB'S ROD.
the hidden thing. We can easily judge by the eye, by
the knowledge of the land, which may be in a rocky
or marshy place, that the source will be more or less
abundant, but that serves less to indicate to us the
true quantity than a difference of the most or least
according as this movement is more or less rapid. In
a word, all that one can judge of, is, that there is a
certain measure or quantity of material towards which
the movement is always slow, and that beyond this
measure there is another which renders it everywhere
equally rapid, but that demonstrates nothing for the
quantity, inasmuch that as soon as the movement
attains its rapidity we know less its quantity than its
violence, the same as when it is slow, we know less its
measure than its slowness. All that can strengthen
this opinion, is, that the matter being in small quantity,
can only produce few subtle particles, that these few
parts can never produce so great an impression as
when many are exhaled from an abundant matter.
We may judge, then, of the force of this impression by
the relation of one to the other, but we can never judge
of the most or least of the lightness, nor either of the
rapidity, because these subtle parts being as it were
imperceptible to one's senses, we can never exactly
know the degree of the impression which they give;
this knowledge is reserved for Him alone who is the
master of the bodies and of the spirits. For example,
if we pass over a source of the size of a finger or of
an inch and a half, we shall feel a slow movement, not
only by the few essences (spirits) which may be in
such a little space, but also by the contrariety which is
made in the movement of the width with that of the

JACOB'S ROD.
49
depth, as the passage from the one to the other is im
perceptible; the first of the two movements is so also,
and is stopped, in some degree, by the last, where the
rod finds it before one has scarcely remarked the first.
But if we pass over a source as large as the leg, or
the arm, there is space enough to perceive the move-
ment of the size, without its being confounded with
that of the depth, and we have trouble to arrest the
rod's movement, the same as if we pass over a river
or a stream, one can make the trial of it. We make
the trial of it in passing over the bridge of a river
which can be navigated, or over that of an aqueduct
or of a stream that turns a windmill, and we shall find
everywhere an equally rapid movement. A demon-
stration may also be made which proves that one does
not know exactly the quantity of metals, if, for example,
one hides five louis d'or in one place, and fifteen in
another, when the rod is carried over each of these
places, it will force equally without our being able to
stop it, although the matter on one side exceeds by
three times that of the other, which induces me to
conclude that one can never know exactly the degree
or the quantity of the hidden things, as also that of
the impression which our minds have received, and
that at the moment the rod has attained a degree of
violence, over a source or over a metal, we know less
the quantity of this than the violence of that, as also
at the moment it has attained one of slowness, we
know rather its slowness than the measure or size of
the thing which causes it.
Į
:

50
`JACOB'S ROD.
CHAPTER X.
OF THE METHOD OF DISCOVERING BOUNDARIES,
ROADS, OR PATHS.
It is not without reason that the Pagans, who made for
themselves Gods, according to their necessities, chose
one for limits whom they called the God Termus.
There seems something so divine in their formation
and in their preservation, the manner of discovering
them is so surprising, that it seems at first the human
mind wants strength to raise itself to the penetration of
the causes which can produce such extraordinary
effects. In fact, who could believe it, if daily
experience did not teach it to us, that the rod turns
over limits the same as over sources and over metals,
and that a space which of itself could not give any
impression, since by the hand or by man's distinction
it has changed place, and been made in order
to separate, or bound the estates of two individuals.
The very stone seems to animate itself, as well as the
space which it occupies in length, and acquires by
this destination or planting (forming) a virtue and a
quality which it had not before. Yet that is certain,
and whilst waiting to relate in some other place the
natural reason, we will establish here, according as
experience has taught it to us, the rules which we
ought to hold in order to discover hidden limits, their
depths and the place where they ought to be, when
they have been transplanted by the fraud of the pro-
prietors. The first rule that must be observed for the
discovery of limits, is that in holding the rod coucheé
}
JACOB'S ROD.
51
(lying) or half coucheé, it turns at the moment that we
are over the limit, and over the space between two
limits, which serve as separation from one limit to the
other, when even there shall be no trace to mark it.
But it must be observed, that the movement which
takes place over the limit, or over the width of the
separation, is different from that given over the length.
Over the limit or over the width it turns always in
lowering, and over the length always in going up
towards the stomach, as if one were following a spring,
or a vein of a mine. The second is, that the rod turns
as well over the visible as over the hidden limit, and
not only over the place where it is, but also in that
where it ought to be, in the event of its having been
transplanted, as well as in all the space that it ought
to occupy in length, which indicates and serves to
recognise the true place of the separation, when the
limit has been changed without the common consent
of the proprietors. The third is, that, as metal stops
the movement for metal, wet rag for water, &c., so
also part of a limit, whether that of the one we seek,
or of another, provided it is that of a real limit, or a
little of the earth (land) which may be in the space
the length of the limits, stops the movement for limits
if you touch them with the rod. So that at the
moment that the rod turns in any place, if water,
metals, and the other kinds cannot stop its movement,
you must touch it with the earth, or with a stone of a
limit, and if it stops conclude with certainty that there
is a limit in this space, and when you have discovered it
you can take away the piece of stone, or of earth, and
follow without hindrance the length or the separation
of
1

f
52
JACOB'S ROD.
which the limit makes, by the movement which the rod
will give in mounting towards the stomach, and find the
place of its true situation by that it will give in lower-
ing towards the earth. But not to misunderstand the
changes in the causes of the movement, we must take
the precaution to touch the rod with the other kinds,
for fear lest in finding some one, as there may be in
the space of the limit, it may cause us to make a
deceptive experience, when in order to know it, we
would try if the stone or earth from the limit stops the
movement, and as there are more springs than other
things in the ground, we must consequently take with
us a wet rag to put at the end of the rod, lest the
water should continue the movement which the
boundary earth would stop, the same as you must take
with you stone or boundary earth when you seek for
a spring or a mine along the boundary, lest the limit
continue the movement that the water or the metal
would stop. There is a fourth maxim which is curious,
in order to discover exactly the separation of the two
properties, it is that the rod never turns but over the
true limit, or over the true separation. Thus, when
the place of the limit has been discovered, by the
want of movement, the rod, by touching it with a
boundary stone or earth, will show if the limit is
in its natural place, or if it has been changed. Inas-
much as if it is truly in the place where the agree-
ment of the parties have placed it, the rod will turn
in lowering over the limit, and afterwards it will turn
in ascending, during all the space of the length, as
far as the other limit, but if it is not in its place, it will
turn in lowering over the limit, and will be without

JACOB'S ROD.
53
:
movement during all the space of the false length,
until the other limit, though there is even a trace
between them, and when it passes over the true length,
that is to say, over the place which ought to make the
true separation, by the first fixing of limits, and by
the agreement of the parties, it will turn in lowering
when we traverse this length, and in rising towards the
stomach when we follow it. And one can only stop
it by touching it with the earth of this place or with
a boundary stone. This which marks exactly for us¦
the true place of the limit or separation, better than
an indifferent stone, or earth which is two or three
feet from it, or from that of the false separation, as
they could not arrest the movement, like a stone of
the limit or earth of the place. One may make proof
of these truths, over known limits, and as we have said
above, that not only the earth or a piece of stone of
the limit we seek stops the movement, but also a piece
of a true limit of any place whatever, we can also use
this trial over visible boundaries in order to distinguish
the true from the false, as over the first the rod turns
and its movement cannot be stopped, except by
touching it with a stone or earth of the limit, but over
the false it never turns whether it touches these things
or not, which ought, by the way, to make us admire the
Divine Providence, and the goodness of the God of
peace, who by an incomprehensible wisdom, has
impressed even upon the least things in nature the
marks of the principal eulogium which he bears, and
such certain signs to preserve it amongst men, that it
is not in their power to change a limit without its being
known, as we have said above, and as their precau-
:

}
54
JACOB'S ROD.
tions are so useless against what has been so justly
established, if one of them knowing that the rod turns
over a true boundary stone, of whatever kind it may
be, had taken one from some place in order to trans-
plant it to the place he desired to usurp, his cheating
would be known, inasmuch as the rod would truly
give movement over this limit, but it would not give it
over the separation, or over the length it ought to
mark from one boundary to the other. What we have
just said is more than sufficient to teach us to find
limits, and one can add nothing to it, unless it is that
when they are covered, their depth discovers itself in
the same way as that of sources, and of mines, and
that after having traversed the width of the limits, the
contrary movement of the rod ceases at the distance
of their depth, the same as with that of sources and
of mines. The same Providence which has given the
means to know limits, in order to preserve peace
amongst men, has also given to us that of knowing
the roads (ways) which serve for their communication
and society by the same rules, I mean to say, that the
rod turns in lowering, when one traverses them,
whether they be great roads or paths, and by rising
when we follow their length, and in the same way we
can only stop it, by causing it to touch a little of the
earth of the same road, which ought to be exactly
observed, in order not to deceive ourselves, when we
seek some source, mine, or metal, in a road, as if the
water, or the metal, or the other kinds do not stop the
rod, we must make it touch a little of the earth of the
road to know if it is not this which causes the con-
tinuation of the movement,
!
:
:
!
JACOB'S ROD.
:

55
CHAPTER XI.
OF THE DIFFERENT CAUSES OF THE ROD'S MOVE-
MENT.
THE movement of the rod is so extraordinary and
surprising that one must not be astonished if people
reason differently upon the causes which may produce
it. Some attribute it to sympathy, and, without teach-
ing us what that is, they explain one difficulty by another
still greater, and rather plunge us into than extricate
us from our embarrassment. Others treat it as a
chimera, and against what experience is continually
teaching us, they say that it is false, and that it con-
sists less in a natural action than in a suppleness or
dexterity of hands.
There are others, also, who, wanting rather pene-
tration than knowledge in physical and natural causes,
attribute it to sorcery, to Satan, or to the spirits
of the air, all which is beyond their understanding,
and, without considering that it is not a less sin to
accuse the work of the Great Architect of imperfec-
tion, than to have recourse without necessity to
spiritual intelligences in order to supply (aid) these
pretended imperfections. They have recourse to
spirits, though they themselves forbid access to them,
and as the knowledge of them is still more difficult
than of that which they neglect to know, they can
without trouble attribute to them all the functions of
which they stand in need to support their opinion,
and by favour of the different operations which they
attribute to them, withdraw themselves from the em-

56
JACOB'S ROD.
barrassment into which their negligence has put them.
Upon this principle they say, first, that this movement
is supernatural, and, without examining, that it is
always equal, that its effect does not vary, and that
loadstone not better attracts iron, heavy things tend
not less to fall, nor the lighter ones to ascend, than
that the rod turns when one is over a spring or a mine,
they boldly sustain that the devil has to do with it,
and although he is the most unhappy of all creatures,
they do him the honor to attribute to him an effect
which is only the work of Divinity. Besides, there is
no one who does not agree that the operations of
spirits dependent upon a changeable will are incon-
stant and subject to change like it, and as they
act rather by caprice than by necessity, their opera-
tions are always diverse, which one never finds in those
of nature. Loadstone has always attracted iron;
fire has always tended upwards; earth has always
fallen downwards; and the rod has always turned when
it has been carried over matter proper to cause its
movement. I maintain, therefore, that there is nothing
in the movement of the rod that physical causes can-
not attain (or explain), and if one will penetrate them.
without prejudice or a preformed opinion, without
seeing its consequences, or without sheltering oneself
under favour of a little knowledge of supernatural
causes, we shall discover three things. The first, that
if this movement were caused by the spirits of the
air it could only be by virtue of an expressed or
tacit agreement. This rod turns with children, with
persons so pious that one could not, without crime,
accuse them with an agreement with the devil. One

JACOB'S ROD.
57
"
T
can less accuse them of a tacit one, because, in re-
nouncing it with all their heart, as if needful they
would no doubt do, it would remain without effect,
and the movement of the rod would cease, which it
never does whether they renounce or not. The second
is, that if the devil had to do with it, the rod would
turn with every one, for there would be no reason to
cause him to prefer some to others, and yet we see
that there is more than the half, perhaps three quarters,
with whom it does not produce this effect. The third
thing they will discover is, that there is nothing im-
perfect in nature, that all bodies have means or natural
signs which cause them to be known inwardly. The
leaf and the bark of the tree are the marks of its
species, the flower is that of the fruit it ought to bear,
and the branches and the trunk are those of the roots
which are hidden. All these different things being
borne to the exterior senses of men by the kinds which
emanate from them, subordinately serve to make him
distinguish them, the same as the impression that the
interior senses receive for hidden things serves to
make him know them by the movement of the rod.
These two kinds of knowledge have not a more
supernatural sensation the one than the other, and,
unless by attributing still to the spirits of the air that
which we have of plants and of other bodies of
nature, one cannot give them the direction of that
which we receive from the movement of the rod.
To make this truth plain one must lay down some rules
which in good philosophy will not be contested. The
first is, that there emanates or exhales generally from
all bodies some subtle particles, which with good
E
1

58
JACOB'S ROD.
reason might be called spirits if they did not come
from matter. Corporeal would not need sustenance.
for their individual support, if it were not necessary
for them to avoid their total ruin by repairing the
breaches made by this continual emanation. Without
these particles the vapours or exhalations could not
be formed, the mirror would reflect no species of
things, the light would not communicate itself to our
eyes, the odour of flowers would not convey itself to
our sense of smell, the dog would not discover the
scent of the game, the trace of his master, or would
not choose a stone which he had thrown into a heap
from others, or into the water. In fine, it is only by
these particles that plants draw their nourishment,
that amber attracts straw, loadstone iron, and that
we distinguish the kind from which they emanate, and
it would be purposeless to enquire why they do not.
attract all kinds, like the loadstone, &c., for some
having more activity than others, according to the
ruling or composed matter from which they emanate,
they find themselves, consequently, more or less active.
Loadstone, for instance, or straw, would have more
air or more fire, which causes a greater activity in their
The second rule we must
particles, so with the rest.
observe is, that these subtle particles reside and fly
about perpetually in the air, around the matter from
which they are emanated, and, according to its super-
ficies, like a smoke which whirls over a fire, or a fog
over water, so that though agitated by a slight
movement, they are in a perpetual repose in this place,
the same as the parts of a running water which are
in its bed, or of a fire which is not agitated by a wind,
Janos
Clic
JACOB'S ROD.
59
or by some other bodies are said to be in repose.
The third, that this repose is never disturbed except by
the interjection of another body, which, mixing itself
with them, receives the communication of their kind
by the agitation or by the impression which they give
to it in joining themselves to it. It is thus that those
who go upon water feel the damp, and in some way
become damp by the particles of water which surround
them. It is thus, also, that he who walks in a dry,
barren place, filled with sulphur, or with some other
mineral, will feel the sulphur, bitumen, or any other
burnt thing by the touch, or by the junction of the
subtle particles which exhale from these bodies. In
fine, it is thus that our hair stands on end, and that
we have a horror when we pass through a place where
a man has been killed, or where his corpse has been
buried. In the fourth place, we must remark that of
the agitations which happen to these particles some
are ordinary by the simple interposition of the bodies,
the others extraordinary, which proceed from the
separation of these particles from their common
matrix, or from the matter from which they emanated.
The first of these agitations is light, and produces
only the simple feeling, the second is violent, and is
much more sensible. Fire never acts with more
violence than when in blowing it you separate it from
its aliment. A torrent is never more impetuous nor
more rapid than when barriers are opposed to its
passage; heavy things never tend more violently
downwards than when they are the most raised, nor light
ones upwards than when they are the lowest; in the
same way these particles never tend more to their
E 2
}
..

60
JACOB'S ROD.
centre, or to re-unite themselves to their common
matrix, than when they are the most separated from
it, and their impression is never more violent than
when they concentrate themselves to return to it.
From all these rules we gather a fifth; it is that the
sensation or the distinction which we make of the
kinds is only made by the impression which the blood
receives from these particles or by the rapport which
those which emanate from us make to it from the
meeting (mixture) which they have made with those
of other kinds. And thus, how these foreign particles
touching those which emanate from us, and repulsing
them, impress them with their movement, and, joining
themselves to them, carry away their distinction from
our imagination by the difference which it finds in
their movement. It is then certain that it is by
the movement of these subtle bodies, and by the
impression which their touch gives to those which
emanate from us, that the sensation or the distinction
of kinds is made, that the imagination recognises them
according to the manner by which it is struck by these
particles, and to give it the knowledge of them it is
requisite, necessarily, that the communication or touch
of two opposite bodies gives or impresses on it a
specific movement. There is no one who does not
allow that these rules are natural. One may believe
them without begging the assistance of spiritual intelli-
gences to perform these operations. One will believe
thus, that it is in this manner one knows the species
of a tree by the subtle particles of the flower, the
leaf and the bark, and that we judge that its roots are
hidden by the branches and the trunk which are over,
"
JACOB'S ROD.
61
and, in fine, that there is something hidden in the
earth by the impression given by the particles which
are over it. This is how I prove it, when we walk in
some place where there is something hidden, the im-
pression which our subtle parts receive from those
which occupy the space of the surface of the mines,
sources, metals, &c., obliges those which have
emanated from our bodies to re-enter our blood
tumultuously, to give of them, according to custom, the
rapport to the imagination by the difference of the
movement. Why should it not be, that in proportion as
these particles enter tumultuously into the body of the
man in order to mark their impression to him they
should cause to go out from him others of which they
take the place, which insinuating themselves by the pores
into the rod communicate to it the movement which
they have just received. This is the true cause of
the movement; it is from the shock or from this im-
pression, which lasts as long as one occupies the space
of these heterogeneous bodies, that the turning of the
rod comes, and one may boldly assert that as the
quickening or the lowering of the pulse marks the
different passions by which our blood is affected, the
movement of the rod is like a second pulse which
marks the agitation our minds have received by the
shock of foreign substances, and if we see that,
generally, certain maladies are taken through
having drunk from the same glass or by the simple
touch, the furies of a mad animal by its saliva or by
its bite, that love as well as disease of the eyes by a
fixed look, and that there are even animals and cer-
tain persons who infect certain objects by their looks
!
begge gan
**
1
;
3
62
JACOB'S ROD.
why should it not be that by a man's touch of the
rod he should communicate to it the impression that
his blood has just received from the shock caused by
the particles of the hidden thing. I shall, doubtless,
be asked two things, from whence comes it that these
particles which enter into the body, and which give
the movement to the rod, do not make themselves
known to the imagination, when the species is hidden,
the same as when it is apparent; for example, why the
kinds of hidden gold do not make it known to our
i nagination by the difference of their movement the
same as when it is discovered. The knot of this
objection res lves itself by the principles we have
placed above, inasmuch as when the kind is apparent
it strikes the exterior sense with an ordinary move-
ment, a natural one, which makes, according to its
custom, the rapport to the interior sense, which knows
it by this rapport, but when the kird is hidden, as the
particles which emanate from it no longer strike the
exterior senses, and cnly give an ordinary movem ent
to the interior, or contrary to the natural, it follows
that they can no longer, by this movement, carry the
distinction of the kinds which produces them, as, for
example, supposing the ordinary movement was high
or oblique, the extraordinary would be low or towards
the hidden thing to which these particles tend to re-
unite themselves. This contrariety of movement pre-
vents it producing the same effect. In a word, when
the kind is apparent, the subtle particles which ema-
nate from it having only their ordinary movement,
the imagination can easily distinguish them by the
rapport of the exterior senses which is struck by it,
:
JACOB'S ROD.
63
but when it is hidden the movement of these particles
being changed by the interjection of the body which
covers them, and from the ordinary become extraor-
dinary, or, contrary to the natural, it no longer affects
the same the exterior sense, and if it affects the in-
terior it is a movement which is unknown to it, as
proceeding from a strange sound of which it does
not understand the language.
The second objection which will be made to me
will be, why this impression does not produce the
same effect on all men, or why the rod does not turn
to every one equally. I reply to that, that in the same
way there are lands naturally sterile, and others
naturally fertile, according to the different aspects of
the sun, or of other planets, healthy and unhealthy
air, according as they are filled with particles con-
formable or contrary to the temperature of the bodies
submitted to them, and pure or impure air according
as they are laden or out of the sphere of these different
particles, so there are bodies which abound in these
subtle parts, and others which have scarcely enough
of them, besides that there are some which have them
more active than others, and which have the pores
extremely open, others which have them very closed.
Those who are born under certain signs or planets,
may have these particles so abundant and so active,
and the pores so open, that, being repulsed by foreign
ones, they must necessarily issue by the pores to make
place for those which enter our bodies when we
breathe, inasmuch as the vessel being filled neither
can remain, and the facility or impetuosity with which
they go out commuuicates or impresses their move-
▸
1

:
}
JACOB'S ROD.
ment to the rod, but those whose pores are closer, or
who have not these particles neither so abundant nor
active, that others can only enter by obliging those
that are there to go out and give them place, cannot
impress on the rod the movement they have received,
because those outside have not so strong an agitation
as those inside, or do not feel it. Here is then the
effect the sign or planet produces; it is that it opens
the pores of some, and gives them a great abundance
of these most active particles, that on the least im-
pression they go out to give place to those sent by
foreign bodies, and to others where it gives less activity
to their subtle parts, or so closes their pores that this
transpiration cannot be made, or if the pores are
tortuous, it causes the movement not to be regular, but
always in turning upwards towards the stomach or in
lowering towards the earth. From thence it is that there
are some who have this movement for all hidden things,
and others only for some, because if they have the
pores very open and straight, this abundance of particles,
with the required activity, the rod will turn to them
without doubt upon all kinds, but if they have only a
plentitude of particles, with closed pores, there will
only be a movement for what gives them the strongest
impression, or which accomodates itself the most to
their temperament, and thus, in proportion as the
activity or plentitude is wanting to these particles, or
that the pores are more or less closed. I boldly, then,
draw this conclusion, that, without having recourse to
spiritual intelligences, one may hold it as certain that
the movement of the rod is physical, that it proceeds
only from a physical cause, that is to say, from our
64
1
i

6.5.
JACOB'S ROD.
particles which emanate from us, upon the shock they
receive from foreign ones, which communicate to the
rod the impression they have received from them.
!
SONGS ONG en Santa
M
!
CHAPTER XII.
EXPLANATION OF SOME DOUBTS UPON THE CAUSES
OF THE ROD'S MOVEMENT.
THE most palpable truth is always contested, and
it is generally in dispute and opposition that it shines,
and that it appears with most brilliancy. The princi-
ples we have laid down in the preceding chapter are
certain, but they are not without some difficulties.
We will try to resolve them in this, and to put them
as in a new light, by the opposition of contrary
reasons. There are few persons who contest the
emanation of subtle bodies, and who do not allow
that they give some impression to our senses, but they
cannot understand how by this impression we can
know the space or width of the hidden things, their
depth, to distinguish the different kinds, to know the
concealed thing, the criminal, or boundaries, and
here are the reasons upon which they may conceive
it as we ourselves can. I have established as a rule
that at the moment one passes over the width of the
hidden thing, the rod gives a movement lowering itself.
The penetration of the cause is not difficult, the subtle
parts which excite this movement being separated
from their centre or from their common matrix, push
each other, and generally tend towards it to re-unite
themselves, and, being met by those of the man who
crosses them, in proportion as he enters into the space
1
1
I
belesh.
t
B
Dutely
Alo
66
JACOB'S ROD.
they occupy, they impress upon them the same move-
ment that these communicate afterwards to the rod,
and as their movement is downwards or towards the
thing concealed, they make it do the same, and give
it the same inflexion at the end (where, or), re-uniting
themselves, as it has been said before. They have,
consequently, more strength in this place to mark it.
From thence one discovers at the same time the
cause of the rapidity or of the slowness of this move-
ment, inasmuch as at the places where there is the
most matter causing a great shock, and a great escape
of these subtle parts, they consequently cause a more
rapid movement than when there is very little. A
little rivulet has never as much rapidity and impetuosity
as a torrent, and one more easily extinguishes a little
light than a fire. One ought not, then, to be
astonished if in judging of the place, or of the abun-
dance of a spring, and of that which is only imbibed,
because what has been said makes us see how the
last ought to give a slower movement than the first.
The foundation or rule I have laid down regarding
the depth is that it is marked by the movement which
the rod gives in mounting against the stomach from
the width, until the movement ceases, and that after
having ceased, if one advances a step, it gives a
contrary movement below. The causes of these effects
are nearly similar to those of the preceding, because
the subtle particles which produce them being drawn
by the body which has traversed them, beyond the
space which they occupied, they take a movement
behind in order to arrive at the place from which they
have been drawn, and, consequently, give the same
US
(
Jabon
Whe
JACOB'S ROD.
67
to the particles of the man, and successively to the
rod, which they also cause to turn backwards, that is
to say, in ascending towards the stomach, and as these
particles cannot act beyond the sphere of their activity,
this sphere only extending itself to the distance of the
intermediate body, that is to say, for example, the
ground which separates them, their movement ceasing
in this interval, one knows, consequently, the distance
of the depth. The solution of this difficulty serves
also to show us how it happens that these particles
give the same movement when one ascends a source
or mine, because these subtle bodies, following the
bent of that from which they emanate, in which they
mix and float perpetually from one extremity to the
other, being stopped and agitated by the body which
opposes itself to their passage, and which crosses
them, make a circular movement around it, in order
to re-take their natural bent, like the parts of water or
of fire which are stopped by a body, and this is what
causes a backward movement, rising against the
stomach, as it has been said elsewhere. There still
remains a difficulty about the depth, it is how it
happens that after the movement which marks its
distance has ceased, if one advances still a step, it
re-takes a contrary movement, that is, lowering, and
that afterwards, if one retraces one's steps, it gives
none at all until one has again entered into the width.
This difficulty will cease when one comes to think
that the want of movement which happens to the rod
at the extremity of the distance of the depth only
proceeds from the absence of the subtle particles which
caused it, because, having withdrawn themselves, the
1

68
JACOB'S ROD.
rod can no longer have the backward movement which
it received by their impression, and if in passing
beyond by a step the place where this movement has
ceased, it comes to give a contrary one. It is not
through having received a new impression from parti-
cles different to the first which agitated it, but rather
because there still remain some, which, not having
been able, like the others, to return, cause the rod to
turn by the new effort which they make to rejoin them,
and as they are no longer drawn behind by the
rapidity of their movement, they follow, and cause the
rod to follow their ordinary bent, which is to tend
downwards. One sees the demonstration of this
truth in those who go out of a place full of thick
smoke, or in those who go out of water, they draw
with them an abundance of smoke, or of water, which
follows them for some space, not always as much as
these particles because it is heavier, but at least enough
to cause us to comprehend that when the smoke or
the water which accompanied the body went out from
it, has retired into its place or its channel, there always
remain some parts or some drops attached to the
body, which, not having so well been able to be sepa-
rated from it as the others, no longer tend towards the
mass they have left, but upwards or below, where they
go successively according to their bent and natural in-
clination, and the same that after this water has run
off until it has rejoined the mass or the stream, one
feels no dampness, because no part of the water re-
mains upon him; the same also when one returns
upon the depth after leaving it for a few steps, when
one traverses it the rod gives no movement until he

JACOB'S ROD.
69
#
begins to enter into the width, because all these parti-
cles being entirely withdrawn they give no impression.
until they are rejoined in the current, that is to say, in
the space which they occupy over the width. As to
the distinction of kinds, I have established, as a rule,
that one knows them in this, that at the moment of their
touching the rod with substances of the same nature
as the hidden thing, its movement is arrested. The
cause of this effect is as evident as that of the prece-
ding, because the kind which touches or which appears,
attracting or re-uniting to itself these particles (which,
by the total separation from their centre, or from their
common matrix, were in a violent agitation to re-unite
themselves to it) puts them into repose and causes
their agitation to cease by their re-union to the kind
of the same nature that they touch on the rod. It is
thus that the magnetic needle, which naturally turns
itself towards the side of the North Pole, where the
centre of attraction is, stops its movement and ceases
to turn. The movement or the extraordinary agitation
which these subtle bodies had by their separation from
their centre being thus stopped, there only remains the
natural or ordinary, which, by itself, giving no impres-
sion, or a very light one, as being in repose, or re-united
to a matter of the same quality as that from which
they were separated. One ought not to be astonished
that the rod does not turn over water, nor over all the
other visible kinds, because the particles of water, &c.,
being in repose, give no impression to the body which
they surround, or only give it one so light that it is
imperceptible, as we have said. A proof that these
particles give no impression when they are in the
1

:
70
JACOB'S ROD.
place of their repose, is that their activity only pro-
ceeds from the violence which they feel when they
are separated from it. We do not smell the odour of
a flower if we do not draw its particles in breathing;
our respiration must draw them with violence to our
smell; a dog would not find the scent of game, nor
that of his master, if respiration did not draw it ; and
thus with the rest, so that these particles do not give
any sensible impression if the violence they suffer
does not excite them and give them activity. Still
they say, supposing it to be so, how shall one know
the place where a stolen thing has been hidden, or
the thief, or the criminal; it appears that the difficulty
no longer exists for the stolen thing, because, being a
body, as well as the other kinds of which we have
spoken, it can exhale particles which may give impres-
sion or movement to the rod, which one may stop and
know the cause of by touching it with things of the
same kind if one has them, so that, if after having
touched it, it continues its movement, one may say the
same as with the sources, that this continuation proceeds
from another cause, which may by chance be found in
the place where one seeks. But that does not suffice to
discover if the thing has been stolen or not, because
it
may be that the rod turns less for the theft than for
the thing stolen. Yet, as we are convinced that the
rod turns equally over the criminal, and over the stolen
thing, after having verified for more certainty that
there is no foreign cause for its movement, I no longer
doubt that the crime affects the thing and the criminal
with a particular quality which they had not before,
and that the agitation which remorse excites in the

JACOB'S ROD.
71
:
particles of the criminal since the crime was committed
is redoubled by their union to those of the stolen thing,
and that this union, like that which takes place over
limits (as we shall afterwards show), makes a compo-
sition which perpetuates a uniform movement to the
rod in every place where the thief has passed or the
stolen thing, and principally in those where either has
stopped, so that nothing can stop its movement over
either, because when it is touched with similar things
they would not be affected by a similar union or a
similar quality of theft. What confirms me in the
belief of this union is that the more abundant are the
subtle particles of the thing which has given rise to
the crime, the more violent is the impression
which they give. For example, the union of the
particles of the murderer with those of the murdered
would give a greater impression than those of the
thief with those of the stolen thing, because in the
first case there is a greater and more violent ex-
halation from the particles of the murdered, and as
they are stronger I do not doubt that they follow every-
where those of the murderer, and that the movement
which they excite is still stronger for the knowledge
of this crime than that which is excited by simple
theft. This truth is also proved by the movement
which the rod gives to the places where the criminal
or the thing affected by the crime are lying, inasmuch
as that there is there a greater exhalation of these
particles, the rod consequently gives more movement,
which causes the place to be casily known, and by
this reason one also easily knows the place where the
crime has been committed, because, as there is there a

72
JACOB'S ROD.
greater exhalation, the movement is also more rapid.
In a word, if, as is said, the rod turns over all crimi-
nals, of whatever nature the crime, this movement
only proceeds from a similar union, or from that since
the crime committed, the subtle particles of the crimi-
nals being more than usually agitated, they have taken
a movement differing from those of the innocent,
which causes that being more violent, it suffices to
move the rod of him who seeks. But as a jury decides
that for conviction there should be proofs clearer than
the day, I would not at once trust to this, not only
because I may fail to touch the rod with some kind
which, stopping its movement, would discharge the
criminal of the crime laid to him, but also because a
man, agitated by an ill-founded fear, or by some
imagination in his head, might cause the same move-
ment; the same as a man firm, without remorse and
without fear, although the criminal giving no agitation
to his spirits could not give any to the rod, which can,
however, happen with difficulty, because the said union
is always to the last, and is wanting to the first. Yet
in a case of crime one must always lean to the gentlest
side. I resolve to say that its movement over a
criminal can never serve as a proof for his conviction,
but only for some indication or presumption of it.
The last difficulty which remains to be examined con-
cerns the movement of the rod over limits. I agree
that there are things which appear to surpass physical
One finds it difficult to think that a stone,
which of itself gives no movement, can give one at
the moment where it is employed for limits, and that
a space which from its nature gives none, as soon as it
causes.
-
JACOB'S ROD.
73
¿

is employed to make the separation of some property,
begins to enclose in itself animated particles which
cause this movement, yet experience shows it us every
day, and teaches us at the same time, that besides the
will of God, which has disposed all things by its provi-
dence in such sort as to keep peace amongst men.
This effect is produced in the same way as the pre-
ceding over water, minerals, &c. In a word, it is by
the means of the common subtle kinds (fluids) in the
body which are exhaled from the surrounding parts
when they planted the limits. No one disallows that in
this movement the two interested parties, or some one
for them were there, that these parties having agreed
on the space which ought to make the separation, and
the place were the limits ought to be planted, would
go and return along this separation in order to place
the cords and pegs, and shed in this planting, or in
these alleys and paths, a quantity of those particles or
subtle bodies which cause the movement, and that
they shed still more in touching the stones which
serve as a limit, and that, in proportion as they bury
these stones, they bury a quantity of these particles
with them. It is these particles of different kinds
which make a union, which reproduces continually
similar ones to their composition. It is these buried
particles or subtle bodies, which, by Divine permission,
compose a kind of mass or circle of them, which keep
as enchained or attached to them by an invisible chain
those which remain in the air all along the path traced
by them during the space of the separation. It is
these last, which moving and reproducing themselves
perpetually in this space from one limit to another,
F
3

ot
74
JACOB'S ROD.
as to the place of their attachment give and impress
on the rod a movement similar to that which it has
over sources and mines. It appears that I see a crowd
of opponents who would ask me how it is that these
particles are not exhaled by the succession of time,
but I answer that that ought not to appear more strange
to them than to see the mistletoe of the oak or apple
tree, which they pretend grows from the excrement of
a bird, produce itself, generate, and remain perpetually
upon the matter on which this excrement fell, spite of
sun, and wind, and rain. Moreover, it is not more sur-
prising to see the particles perpetually remaining over
the limits, and reproducing themselves than to see.
(according to what naturalists say) that one of the
drops of milk which issues from coral (when broken
in the sea) produce there another coral shrub upon
whatever it falls, and that this drop, without varying,
rests on the place where it falls, produces there a new
coral branch, brings it up, and causes it to grow as
large or larger as that from which it was produced, spite
of the agitation of the waves and the movement of
the water, which ought as easily to carry this drop of
milk above the stone or place where it falls, impede
its generation, and prevent its reproducing itself, as
the winds or succession of time can carry away the
particles of the surrounding parties, which are sown
upon the limit or upon the space of the separation.
In fine, one ought no more to be astonished to see
these particles fixed upon limits, or upon the space of
separation than at what we remember for sixty or eighty
or more years, things that we have seen, felt, tasted,
touched, &c. There are few philosophers who do

JACOB'S ROD.
75
not agree that this reminiscence is caused by means of
particles, which, remaining attached to our senses,
although the object is no longer there, by recalling
the idea of it to our memory every time they repre-
sent themselves to our imagination. Why not allow
the same with particles buried with limits, perpetually
remaining there, that they reproduce it, and, being of
the same nature as those in the air, in the space of
separation, they keep them there attached like a tree
which is upon its root, or by the inclination which
they have to re-unite with their like, and make them
remain there, so that they present themselves to the
man the same as the intentional kinds to memory; the
reason is the same for both. It is certain that these
particles, or those which are reproduced by them, re-
main about these limits, either flying about or running
continually from one limit to another, or all along the
separation where they are seen, they tend downwards
continually towards those which are attached to the
limits, which causes a similar movement to the rod
when one traverses them, as that which it receives in
traversing a source or a mine, and a contrary one when
in following the length one opposes their passage, the
same as one sees a contrary one when in ascending a
source or vein of a mine, one opposes the passage of
the particles which are following their bent. One will
object, that if this movement is similar to that made
over mines, springs, &c., why does the rod turn upon
the visible stone of limit, and not over water or the
matter of the mine. This difficulty can be resolved,
but to make it more clear I shall observe three things,
the first that the particles emanated from surrounding
F 2
3

76
JACOB'S KOD.
parties, which are enclosed with the limits are so united
in them, that they may be said to be concentrated; the
second, that the superficies of the apparent limit, like
that of the ground of separation, have no part in this
re-union, the same as the surface of the man has no
part in the kinds which he encloses in himself. The
third, that the traces which the parties have made in
going and coming along the separation have also con-
centrated some which are like the stem, or root, or
centre of those which circulate in the air above this
place. This agreed, one easily discovers why the
apparent limit or ground of separation cannot arrest
the movement of the rod, for being on'y a surface,
which is not like what they enclose of the same nature
as the particles in the air, and which have caused the
movement, they can neither stop it nor cause it to
cease, because they do not stop their agitation in re-
uniting and in putting them into the repose they seek
as the spring or apparent mine do to the subtle bodies
of similar natures to themselves, and if in breaking a
piece of the boundary stone, or lump of earth from
the separation line, they stop the movement, it is that
in breaking these pieces some of those particles which
were concentrated are discovered, which, by the touch
of the rod, re-uniting the others to them, and putting
them into the repose they sought, cause their agitation.
to cease, and consequently arrest the movement which
they caused. This reason serves also to teach us how
it is that when a limit is changed the rod does not turn
over the false length, because the subtle particles
which were concentrated in the true separation have
not quitted it to follow the limit when it was changed,
*
JACOB'S ROD.
77
1
;
and it turns always over the true separation, or over
the limit where they were concentrated, rather than
over the false separation, because none of these con-
centrated particles, being in this place those which are
in the air are not attracted as over the true separation,
where some always remain concentrated, to which
they try to re-unite themselves. Doubtless, the rules
I have given about the planting of limits will make
some say I have gone beyond those of reason, but I
shall be glad if they can contradict me without doing
so, and until beyond the causes that I attribute to the
will and power of God, which are beyond limit, let
him give me more natural or apparent causes than
mine. I declare that rather than have recourse to the
spirits of the air I shall keep to my first opinion,
which, being founded on a physical and real cause,
produces always the same effect, which would not be
found in the spirits of the air, or by spiritual intelli-
gences, and, by this means, instead of taxing with.
imperfection the work of the Creator, I praise and
admire incessantly the Great Workman, who, by an
operation of which He alone is capable, has shewn
in the least things the signs of His goodness toward
man.
I
FINIS.
น
༄་
:
}

A Q Q EN Q A.
CHAPTER I.
IF further proof be needed of the existence of the
faculty of finding minerals, &c., I cannot do better
than quote largely from the volumes of the Spiritual
Magazine, as by so doing a much more comprehensive
view of the subject will be obtained, with the
experiences of others also, some of high rank and well
known, premising however that the quotations have
been copied from other works.
This I do that no doubt may remain on the mind
as to their truth, and to prove, as far as testimony will
do so, their correctness, and as the works are now
scarce and expensive, it will save the trouble of pro-
curing them.
DIVINING RODS AND HAZEL WANDS.
Spiritual Magazine, March, 1862.
It is grateful to us to have to quote again from the pages of All
the Year Round, some excellent remarks by Mr. Dickens' great
collaborateur, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, on this subject. Neither
divining rods nor hazel wands have been much heard of as
forming part of the modern manifestions. As for divining rods,
they are, with the exception of those mentioned in the Bible,
almost entirely connected in our minds with the magical arts of
the carlier and middle ages, and they have disappeared from
amongst us, who are seeking rather to develope Spiritualism as
an incident of higher laws, than to cultivate the supposed relations
of the magician. Hazel wands, on the contrary, have been
more heard of, for no such uncanny ideas attached to them, for
they have been carried to advantage in the hands of sickly girls,
and others of the magnetic temperament, in searching successfully
for mines and springs of water. The hazel wand performed
wonders in the hands of Angelique Cottin. Indeed, its use has
been occassional for many years in England also. We know that
P

ADDENDA.
79
the well known Mr. Cook worthy, the Swedenborgian, and the
father of English pottery, used it with remarkable success in
prospecting for the celebrated china clay found by him in Corn-
wall. We also know a lady now in London who has a some-
what analogous though more spiritual power, and who, while in
London on one occasion, without the hazel wand, detected, by
merely passing her hand over the plan of an estate situate near
Reigate, the exact spot on which water would be found, stating
at the same time that the sinking then being made was in the
wrong place. Both her statements were found to be true.
Water was found with n twelve feet of the surface where she in-
dicated ir, after a large expenditure had been made in continuing
the other sinking to a g ear depth without success.
There is no doubt al-o that, as in the case of the planchette,
some woods and materials are better adapted than others for
collecting and retaining the magnetic properties, communicated
through the human spirit. For the planchette, sandal wood has
been mentioned as the best. How it has come to select the hazel
we know not, excepting that the wood is common and handy for
the purpose, or that its use is like much of our wisdom, the result
of tradition, the origin of which is lost.
})
Sir Bulwer Lytton is able to que te Bacon, the great Master of
Philosophy, on this interesting subject. It is not long since Sir
W. Pag Wood, in delivering a lecture at Exeter Hall, introduced
the subject of the spiritual phenomena, and with the most con-
temptuous see, asked "Could such things be in the country of
Bacon, and in the nineteenth century?" "Yes," we say to the
Vice-Chancellor, "such things can be, and are in the country of
Bacon; and if you had known Bacon better, you would have
found that his belief and his phil sophy were both in favour of
what you do nied. We have shewn this in quotations from the
works of the great philosopher in our very first number, and
we agree with Sir Bulwer Lytton, who says for the benefit of Sir
W. Page Wood, Mr. Dickens, and others of that stamp,
"Lord Bacon, were he now living, would be the man to solve the
mysteries that branch out of mesmerism, or (so called) spiritual
manifestation, for he would not pretend to despise their phenomena
for fear of hurting his reputation for good sense;" and Bacon is
quoted by Sir Bulwer Lytion, suggesting
"that there be many
things, some of them inanimate, that operate upon the spirits of
men by secret sympathy and antipathy," and to which Bacon gives
the quaint name of "imaginants ;" and Sir Bulwer adds,
CC So
even that wand, of which I have described to you the magic-like
effects, may have had propert es communicated to it, by which it
performs the work of the magician, as mesmerists pretend that
some substance mesmerized by them can act on the patient as
L
, when, ga pract

80
JACOB'S ROD.
sensibly as if it were the mesmerizer himself."
Ard," says
Bacon earnestly, in a very different spirit from that which dictates
to the sages of our time the philosophy of rejecting without trial
that which belongs to the marvellous" and whatsoever is of this
kind, should be thoroughly enquired into;" ard this great four der
or renovator of the sober in ductive system of investigat or, even
so far leaves it a matter of speculative enquiry, whether magina-
tion may not be so powerful that it can actually operate upon a
plant, that he says, This likewise should be made upon plants,
and that diligently, as if you should tell a man that such a tree
would die this year, and will him, at these and these times, to go
unto it and see how it thriveth." I presume that no philosopher
has followed such recommendations. Had some real philosopher
done so, possibly we should by this time know all the secrets of
what is popularly called witchcraft.
C
Sir Bulwer Lytton proceeds:
(C
I re-
May it not be possible, apart from the doubtful question
whether a man can communicate to an inanimate material sub-
stance, a power to act upon the mud or imagination of another
man-may it not, I say, be possible that such a substar ce may
con'ain in itself such a virtue or property, potent over certain con-
stitutions, though not over all? For instance, it is in my experience
that the common hazel-wood will strongly affect some nervous
temperaments, though wholly with cut efects on others.
member a young girl who, having taken up a hazel stick freshly
cut, could not relax her hold of it; and when it was wrenched
away from her by force, was irresistibly attracted towards it, re-
possessed herself of it, and, after holding it a few minutes, was
cast into a kind of trance in which she be held phartasn al visions.
Mentioning this curious case, which I supposed urique, toa learned
brother of our profession, he told me that he had known other
instances of the effect of the hazel upon reivous temperan erts
in persons of both sexes. Possibly it was some such peculiar
property in the hazel that made it the weed selected for the cld
divining rod. Again, we know that the Lay-tree or laurel was
dedicated to the oracular Pyth an Apollo. Now, wherever in
the old world we frd that the learning of the prests er æbled
them to exhibit exceptional phencmera, which imposed upon
popular credulity, there was something or ther wh ch it is worth
a philosopher's while to explore. Ard, accord:1 gly, I always
suspected that there was in the laurel some picperty favourable
to ecstatic vision, in hybly impressionable temperaments. My
suspicion, a few years ago, was just fied ly the exp rierce of a
Geiman physician, who had urder his care a catalytic or
ecstatic patient, and who assured me, that he found nothing in this
patient, so stimulated the state of 'sleep-waking,' cr so d speed
1
ADDENDA.
81
that state to indulge in the hallucinations of previsions, as the
berry of the laurel. Well, we do not know what this wand,
that produced a seemingly magical effect upon you, was really
composed of. You did not notice the metal employed in the wire,
which you say communicated a thrill to the sensitive nei ves in the
palm of the hand. You cannot tell how far it may have been
the vehicle of some fluid force in nature. Or, still more probably,
whether the pores of your hand insensibly imbibed, and commu-
nicated to to the brain, some of those powerful narcotics, from
which the Budhists and Arabs make unguents that induce
visionary hallucinations, and in which substances undetected in
the hollow of the wand, or the handle of the wand itself, might
be steeped. One thing we do know, viz., that amongst the
ancients, and especially in the East, the construction of wands
for magical purposes, was no common-place mechanical craft, but
a special and secret art appropriated to men, who culivated, with
assiduity all that was then known of natural science, in order to
extract from it agencies what might appear supernatural. Possibly
then, the rods or wands of the East, and of which Scripture makes
mention, were framed upon some principles of which we in our
day are very naturally ignorant, since we do not ransack science
for the same secrets. And thus in the selection or preparations
of the material employed, mainly consisted whatever may be
referable to natural philosophical causes, in the antique science
of Rhab lomancy, or divination and enchantment by wands. The
staff or wand of which you tell me, was, you say, made of iron or
steel, and tipped with crystal. Po-sibly iron and crystal do realiy
contain some properties, not hitherto scientifically analyzed, and
only, indeed, potential over exception al temperaments, which
may account for the fact that iron and crystal have been favourites
with all professed mystics, ancient and modern. The Delphic
Pythoness had her iron tripod, Mesmer his iron bed; and many
persons, indisputably honest, cannct gaze long upon a ball of
crystal, but what they begin to see visions. I suspect that a
philosophical cause for such seemingly preternatural effects of
crystal and iron will be found in connexion with the extreme
impressionability to changes in temperature, which is the charac-
teristic both of crystal and iron. But if these materials do contain
certain powers over exceptional constitutions, we do not arrive at
a supernatural, but at a natural phenomenon."
*
may add that Dr. Kerner instances the effect of laurel-berries on the
Seeress of Prevorst corresponding with that asserted by Julius Faber in the
I
text.
t See for these unguents the work of M. Maury La Magie et l'Astrologie,
&c., p. 417.
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82
JACOB'S ROD.
The following article, on the same subject, is from the pen of
Professor Buchanan, and has recently appeared in the Herald of
Progress. It contains the most philosophical explanation yet given
of a wonderful fact, long observed, but to which little scientific
attention has hitherto been given
WATER WITCHERY EXPLAINED.
"One of the most remarkable facts which have been neglected
by the scientific, is that which has been expressed by the term
Bletonism, or Water Witchery. The familiar practice in Europe
and America of determining the proper location for a well, and
the probable depth at which a stream of water will be found, has
not received the proper attention of scientific men.
"When we examine the process by which the discovery is made
we do not observe anything very rational or scientific. The water
finder proceeds over the ground, holding in his hand a forked
twig of witch hazel, peach, or some appropriate tree, which it is
believed will turn down with considerable force and point toward
the subterranean stream, whenever he stands directly over it.
Such is the general opinion of water finders; and some of them
even declare that the twig turns down with sufficient force to
twist it in their hands, breaking the bark. It is also believed that by
holding a switch or rod in the hand by the smaller end, leaving it
in a position free to move, it will adapt its direction to the course
of a subterranean stream, and thus become a guide by which
the stream may be traced. It is believed that on the water finder
holding a small rod or twig in his hand above the site of the sub-
terranean stream, it will soon be thrown into motion by a mys-
terious attraction, and begin to vibrate vertically to and from the
water.
"In these opinions, although they may appear ridiculous to the
man of science, we observe the form in which a familiar fact
presents itself and is received by the unscientific mind.
As to any
attraction between the twigs and the subterranean stream of water,
when no human being interferes, we have not the slightest evidence
of its existence. The whole cause, therefore, of the facts and
phenomena, must be found in the constitution, capacities, and
pecularities of the individuals who make the experiment. The
forked twig or divining rod is held in such a manner, compressed
by the hand, as to be very liable, if the pressure is not carefully
made, to be thrown down by the force used. Hence its turning
down, even with apparent violence, is not at all surprising. But
the water finder tells us, sincerely, no doubt, that he makes no
effort to cause the twig to turn down, on the contrary, wishes to
prevent it. Nevertheless, we know that the twig can be main-
tained in its erect position only by the judiciously balanced force
ADDENDA.
83
which he applies to it, and that whenever, from any cause, his force
is improperly applied, it must descend, whether he wills such a
result or not.
"So in the case of following the guidance of an elastic switch,
it is very easy, when it is held almost balanced from one extremity
swinging to and fro in an elastic manner, to change its direction
by the unconscious movement of the hand of the holder; it is
obvious that a very slight movement, however communicated,
even the slight movements which are always experienced from
the impulse of the heart, and from the movements of respiration,
will be sufficient to produce a gentle vibration of the twig. By
these means we can explain the movements of the divining rod of
the water finder, as being entirely caused by the action of his own
muscular system, independent of any anticipation on his part, or
any design to produce such results.
"This reasoning, however, does not explain the wonderful fact
which has been verified in thousands of instances, that the true
situation of subterranean streams may be thus pointed out, and
even the depth at which the water lies correctly indicated. To ex-
plain this fact we must refer to the wonderful powers of the nervous
system, which recognize the influence of a medicine enveloped
in a paper, or hermetically sealed in a bottle. The powers by
which we recognize the influence of a medicine through solid
media-by which we recognize the mental influence belonging to
the contents of an unopened letter, and by which we recognize
the pathological properties-are powers of a similar character to
that which is concerned in water finding. It is a consequence of
an impressible nervous system, that all substances around us, and
at various distances, are capable of exerting an influence upon
Sensitive persons may be powerfully affected by a magnet at
fifteen or twenty feet distance. That so simple and harmless a
fluid as water should exert a distinct influence upon the human
constitution, at a considerable distance, is not incredible when we
have witnessed parallel facts as to the operation of other agents.
us.
"In order to explain the mysteries of Bletonism, I have selected
persons of a high impressibility, with a view of determining, by the
excitement of their organs, in what portion of the brain the power
of the Bletonist could be located. Knowing that it was a per-
ceptive power, I discovered that any highly impressible persons
might be endued with the power of the Bletonist, by exciting suffici-
ently the sensitive and perceptive organs. In the greater number
of highly impressible persons these organs are spontaneously
sufficiently active for our purpose, and such persons are capable
of becoming water finders if they exercise their power.
"I discovered, in my first examination of the subject, that any
impressible person might be sensibly affected by proximity to a
I
t
;
$
•

84
JACOB'S ROD.
body of water, and that, by exciting his intuitive perceptive organs,
he would be able to recognise its presence whenever he approached
it. Thus, by placing a large bowl or pitcher of water upon the
table, and causing the individual to pass arourd the rcm with
his eyes closed, holding his hand extended horizontally, I
observed that whenever his hand passed over the bowl of
water, not knowing where it was, it would slightly
descend as though attracted towards it. After a little experience
he would he enabled, by passing his hard arcurd the icom, to
recognise the spot at which he experierced the action of the
water. Thus, if a bowl of water should be placed wder a
chair, he would be able, by placing his hand, with his eves
closed, upon each chair, to distinguish the cne beneath v hich the
water was situated. After placing his hand over a bowl of water
several times, and observing a descent of his hand at each passage,
it was observed that if he stood still, holding his hard in the same
position, it would gradually be attracted towards the water, and
descend, as if compelled by an increasing force, the muscles of
the arm appearing to undergo a peculiar contractile and benumbing
influence.
་་
b'm
"Having observed these facts, I sought an opportunity to apply
the principle to the case of a somewhat noted water finder. The
old gentleman was brought to my office. I gave him a hint of my
views as to his pecular powers, which he received with considerable
scepticism. Nevertheless, I proposed to test the water experi-
ment, and to show him that the whole mystery of water fa dirg
consisted rot in any pccular virtue in the diviring cd, ut ir a
eculiar infuence exerted by water over the human system.
By
the experiment of holding his arm extended in diferent parts of the
room over a bucket of water and clscwlere. I endeavoured to
convince him of the truth of the principle. He found that when-
ever his arm was held over the water, it was strongly disposed
to descend; yet, it was not till repeated trials, in other portions
of the apartmen', that he could be convinced that the water exerted
any peculiar influence, although his aim d'd not exhibit the same
disposition to descend in other places. Finally, however, resolved
that he would not be convinced if he could help it, he determined
to hold his arm above a bucket of water, and not allow any infu-"
ence from that source to effect it. He accordingly held cut his
haud, and sted ly resisted the influence, which, revertheless, was
visibly operating and causing its descent. He cortinued this
struggle until his arm was spasmodically agitated by his effort,
and yielded the point only when he found himself unable to resist
any longer.
"After giving him this demonstration of impressibility. I in-
formed him that the same pr ncij les were app lille to other infu-
ADDENDA.
85
י
+

ences as well as that of water, and placed upon his forehead, in
succession, the letters of Judge S., General Jackson, Mr. Calhoun,
&c., from each of which he derived a striking and characteristic
impression correspo, ding to th characters of the writers and the
mode in which he was accustomed to regard them. Thus we
learn that the phenomena of Bletonism are nothing more than a
popular and universal mode of displaying the impres-ibility of
the nervous system, which Neurology has demonstrated. The
rod or twig, or any other apparatus for the exercise of this power,
is a convenient method for its exhibition, as the muscles of the
operator, while holding the twig, are affected by the influence of
of the subterranean stream. But in truth, no such apparatus is
necessary. The mpressible Bletonist may go forth with his hand
alone may recognize subterranean streams, indicate their course
and depth; and I believe may not or ly indicate the course of the
subterranean streams, but may also determine the pos.tion of
min. r 1 strata.
>>
An interesting account is given by our own Dr. Mayo of some
experiments made by him in Germany, as follows:
"In the spring of 1847, being then at Weilbach, in Nassau, a
region teeming with underground sources of water, I requested the
son of the prorpietor of the bathing establishment-a tall, thin,
pale, white-haired youth, by name Edward Seebold- to walk in
my presence up and down a promising spot of ground, holding a
divining fork of hazel, with the accessories recommended M. de
Tristran to beginners-that is to say, he held in his right hand
three peces of silver, besides one landle of the rod, while the
handle which he held in his left hand was covered with thin silk.
The lad had not made five steps, when the point of the divining
fork began to ascend. He laughed with astonishment at the
event, which was totally unexected by him; and he said that he
experienced a tickling or thrilling sensation in his hands. He
continued to walk up and down before me. The fork had scon
described a complete circle; then it described another; and
so it continued to do as long as he walked thus, and as
often as,
after stopping, he resumed his walk. The
experiment was repeated by him in my presence, with like
success, several times during the ensuing month. Then the
lad fell into ill health, and I rarely saw him.* How.
ever, one day I sent for him, and begged him to do me the
favour of making another trial with the divining fork. He did so,
ut the instrument moved slowly and sluggishly; and when,
having completed a semicircle, it pointed backwards towards the
pit of his stomach, it stopped, and would go no farther. At the
* Overtaxed his powers.
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86
JACOB'S ROD..
same time the lad said he felt an uneasy sensation, which quickly.
increased to pain, at the pit of the stomach, and he became alarmed,
when I bade him quit hold of one handle of the divining rod, and
the pain ceased. Ten minutes afterwards I induced him to make
another trial; the results were the same. A few days later, when
the lad seemed still more out of health, I induced him to repeat
the experiment. Now, however, the divining fork would not
move at all. I entertain little doubt that the above performances
of Edward Seebold were genuine. I thought the same
of the performances of three English gentlemen, and of
a German, in whose hands, however, the divining rod
never moved through an entire circle. In the hands of
one of them its motion was retrograde, or abnormal; that
is to say, it began by descending. But I met with other cases,
which were less satisfactory, though not uninstructive. I should
observe that, in the hands of several who tried to use it in
my presence, the divining fork would not move an inch. But
there were two younger brothers of Edward Seebold, and a bath-
maid, and my own man, in whose hands the rod played new
pranks. When these parties walked forwards, the instrument
ascended, or moved normally; but when, by my desire, they
walked backwards, the instrument immediately went the other
way. I should observe that in the hands of Edward Seebold, the
instrument moved in the same direction whether he walked for-
wards or backwards; and I have mentioned that at first it described
in his hands a complete circle. But with the four parties I have
just been speaking of, the motion of the fork was always limited
in extent. When it moved normally at starting, it stopped after
describing an arc of about 225°; in the same way when it moved
abnormally at starting, it would stop after describing an arc of
about 135°; that is to say, there was one spot the same for the
two cases, beyond which it could not get. Then I found that, in
the hands of my man, the divining rod would move even
when he was standing still, although with a less lively
action; still it stopped as before nearly at the same
point. Sometimes it ascended, sometimes descended.
Then I tried some experiments, touching the point
with a magetic needle. I found, in the course of them, that when
my man knew which way I expected the fork to move, it invaria-
bly answered my expectation; but when I had the man blindfolded
the results were uncertain and contradictory. The end of all this
was, that I became certain that several of those in whose hands
the divining rod moves, set it in motion and directed its motion
by the pressure of their fingers, and by carrying their hands nearer
*See my remarks and caution on the matter,
plates, all
ADDENDA.
87
to, or father apart. In walking forward, the hands are uncon-
sciously borne towards each other; in walking backwards, the
reverse is the case. Therefore, I recommend no one to prosecute
these experiments unless he can execute them himself, and unless
the divining describes a complete circle in his hands; and even
then he should be on his guard against self-decepti. n.
In that most interesting work, The Autobiograpy of Heinrich
Zschokke,* the celebrated author bears his personal testimony to
the power of discovering metals and fossils as well as subterranean
waters in the following sentence:
"My connexion with mining operations brought me the aquaint-
ance of many persons with whom I was much interested.
The
operations themselves were unimportant, for the interior of the
Jura is mostly poor in metals, but an alabaster quarry which I dis-
covered brought me into a friendly correspondence with the
venerable Prince Primate, Karl von Dalberg, and my search after
salt and coal to the acqaintance of a young Rhabd mantin of twenty
years old, who was sent to me by the well-known geologist, Dr.
Ebel, of Zurich. In almost every canton of Switzerland are found.
persons endowed with the mysterious natural gift of discovering,
by a peculiar sensation, the existence of subterranean waters,
metals, or fossils. I have known many of them, and often put
their marvellous talent to the proof. One of these was the Abbot
of the Convent of St. Urban in the canton of Lucerne, a man of
learning and science; and another a young woman who excelled
all I have ever known. I carried her and her companion with
me through several districts entirely unknown to her, but with
the geological formation of which, and the position of its salt and
sweet waters, I was quite familiar, and I never once found her
deceived. The results of the most careful observation have com-
pelled me at length to renounce the obstinate suspicion and
incredulity I at first felt on this subject, and have presented me
with a new phase of nature, although one still involved in enig-
matical obscurity. To detail circumstantially every experiment
I made, to satisfy myself on the point, would take up too much
space at present, but I think it right to mention some of the causes
which led me occasionally to vary from others in my views of
Nature and of God.
>>
Another branch of this subject is mentioned in the following
passage, which we find quoted in Mr. Howitt's translation of
Ennemoser:
"Rhabdomincy was an ancient method of divination performed
by means of rods or staves. St. Jerome mentions this kind of
divination in his commentary on Hosea, chap. vi. 12, where the
Chapman and Hall, 1845, page 143.
}
*

1
88
prophet says, in the name of God, My people ask counsel at their
stocks; and their staff declareth unto them: which
passage that father
understands of the Grecian Rhabdomancy. The same met with
aguin in Ezekiel, xxi. 21, 22, where the prophet says, For the
king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the
two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright; or, as St.
Jerome renders it, he mixed his arrows; he consulted w th images;
he looked in the liver. If it be the same kind of divination that
is alluded to in these two passages, Rhabdomancy must be the
same kind of superstition with Belomancy: these two, in fact,
are generally confounded. So much, however, is certain,
that the instruments of divination mentioned by Hosea
are different from those of Ezekiel : though it is possible
they might use rods or arrows indifferently; or the
military men might use arrows, and the rest rods.
By
the laws of the Frisones it
the Frisones it appears that the ancient in-
habitants of Germany practised Rhabdomancy. The Scythians
were likewise acquainted with the use of it; and Hero lotus ob-
serves (lib. vi.) that the women among the Alani sought
and gathered together fine straight wands or rods, and used
them for the same superstitious purposes. All these kinds of
divination have been condemned by the fathers of the Church
and Councils, as supposing some compact with the devil. Fludd
has written several treatises on divinatiom and its different
species; and Cicero has two books on the divination of the ancients,
in which he confutes the whole system. Cardan also, in his 4th
book, De Sapientia, describes every species of them."
There are several other very interesting facts which we wish to
bring together on this subject, especially one from the pen of the
late Lady Byron, who had herself this curious faculty of using
the wand. We shall, therefore, resume the subject in the next
number.
ADDENDA.
DIVINING RODS AND HAZEL WANDS.
Spiritual Mgazine, April, 1862.
We continue this interesting subject from our last number, in
which we mentioned the late Lady Bron as being possessed of
the faculty. It was not Lady Byron, but Lady Milbanke,
whose letter we find in Dr. Ashburner's edition of Reichenbach,
in one of those valuable notes with which the Doctor has en-
riched his translation of that work. We cannot mention these
notes without strongly recommending them to our readers as
containing information from one of the most philosophical and
sc entific minds we have amongst us. On this subject, on which

ADDENDA.
89
i
use
we are now bringing together a few facts, we find an elaborate
and luminous essay, in the shape of a note, and containing the
letter of Milbanke, which we have somewhat abbreviated and
condensed into what follows. Dr. Ashburner says that in the
counties of Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, the facts on this
subject are well known, and the practice of dowsing, as it is
called, has been cultivated time out of mind. In France the
men of scientific pursuits have for the most part ridiculed the
of the baguette, notwithstanding abundant evidence in
various parts of the country being extant of the success which
had attended the practice of the sourciers. The Baron von
Reichenbach has established facts regarding the emanations of
light from graves, which are quite as remarkable as the proofs
of emanations taking place from metals or from running water.
Now that the Baron's researches, and the concurrent testimony
of the cultivators of mesmeric science, have established that
certain individuals are more susceptible of magnetic impressions
than others, it will not be pronounced impossible that subterra-
neous running water may influence some persons, and not others.
In different classes of animals the sensitive powers are known to
vary greatly, as they do among those of the same species.
The following extracts will further illustrate the subject:-
'
Although the effects or motion of the divining rod, when in
the proximity of springs, has been and is to this day considered
by most philosophers a mere illusion, yet I think the following
brief observations relating to this subject, and which were com-
municated to Dr. Hutton by a lady of rank, with the account of
her subsequent experiments performed before him, his family,
and a number of friends (as given in the doctor's translation of
Montucla's edition of Ozanam's Recreations), must convince the
most incredulous that in the hands of some persons, in certain
situations, the baguette is forcibly acted upon by some hitherto
unknown invisible cause. This evidence was brought about in
the following manner. Soon after the publication of the former
edition of the Recreations, the editor received by the post the
following well-written pseudonymous letter on the subject of this
problem. The letter in question is dated Feb. 10, 1805, and, as
with the whole of the correspondence it would be too long for
our limits, I shall select such parts only as are immediately
essential to a right understanding of the subject.
"The lady observes, 'In the year 1772 (I was then nineteen)
I passed six months at Aix, in Provence. I there heard the
popular story of one of the fountains in that city having been
discovered some generations before, by a boy who always ex-
pressed an aversion from passing one particular spot, crying out
there was water. This was held by myself, and the family I was
G
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JACOB'S ROD.
with, in utter contempt. In the course of the Spring, the family
went to pass a week at the Chateau d'Ansonis, situated a few
miles to the north of the Durance, a tract of country very
mountainous, and where water was very ill supplied. We
found the Marquis d'Ansonis busied in erecting what might be
termed a miniature aqueduct, to convey a spring the distance of
half a league, or nearly as much, to his chateau, which spring
he asserted had been found out by a peasant, who made the
discovery of water his occupation in that country, and maintained
himself by it, and was known by the appellation of l'Homme à
la Baguette. This account was received with unbelief, almost
amounting to derision. The Marquis, piqued at being discredited,
sent for the man, and requested we would witness the experi-
ment. A large party of French and English accordingly attended.
The man was quite a peasant in manners and appearance: he
produced some twigs cut from a hazel, of different sizes and
strength, only they were forked branches, and hazel was preferred,
as forking more equally than most other trees; but it is not
requisite that the angle should be of any particular number of
degrees. He held the ends of the twigs between each fore
finger and thumb, with the vertex pointing downwards. Standing
where there was no water, the baguette remained motionless;
walking gradually to the spot where the spring was under ground,
the twig was sensibly affected; and as he approached the spot,
began to turn round; that is, the vortex raised itself, and turned
towards his body, and continued to turn until the point was
vertical; it then again descended outwards, and continued to
turn, describing a circle as long as he remained standing over the
spring, or till one or both branches were broken by the twisting,
the ends being firmly grasped by the fingers and thumbs, and
the hands kept stationary, so that the rotary motion must of
course twist them. After seeing him do this repeatedly, the
whole party tried the baguette in succession, but without effect.
I chanced to be the last. No sooner did I hold the twig as
directed, than it began to move as with him, which startled me
so much that I dropped it, and felt considerably agitated. I
was, however, induced to resume the experiment, and found the
effect perfect. I was then told it was no very unusual thing,
many having that faculty, which, from what has since come to
my knowledge, I have reason to believe is true. On my return
to England I forbore to let this faculty (or whatever you may
term it) be known, fearing to become the topic of conversation
or discussion. But two years afterwards, being on a visit to a
nobleman's house, Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire, and his lady
lamenting that she was disappointed of building a dairy-house
in a spot she particularly wished, because there was no water to
2


ADDENDA.
91
M
be found a supply she looked on as essential-under promise of
secrecy I told her I would endeavour to find a spring. I accord-
ingly procured some hazel twigs, and in the presence of herself
and husband, walked over the ground proposed, till the twig
turned with considerable force. A stake was immediately driven
into the ground to mark the spot, which was not very distant
from where they had before sunk. They then took me to another
and distant building in the park, and desired me to try there: I
found the baguette turn very strongly, so that it soon twisted and
broke the gentleman persisted that there was no water there,
unless at a great depth, the foundation being very deep (a con-
siderable stone cellar), and that no water appeared when they
dug for it.
I could only reply that I knew no more than from
the baguette turning, and that I had too little experience of its
powers or certainty to answer for the truth of its indication. He
then acknowledged that when the building was erected they were
obliged to drive piles for the whole foundation, as they met with
nothing but a quicksand. This induced him to dig in the spot I
first directed; they met with a very fluent spring; the dairy was
built, and it is at this time supplied by it.
S
"I could give a long detail of other trials I have made, all
of which have been convincing of the truth, but they would be
tedious. For some years past I have been indifferent about its
becoming known, and have consequently been frequently re-
quested to show the experiment, which has often been done to
persons of high estimation for understanding and knowledge,
and I believe they have all been convinced. Three people I
have met with, who have, on trying, found themselves possessed
of the same faculty. I shall only add one more particular inci-
dent. Having once shown it to a party, we returned into the
house to a room on the ground floor; I was again asked how I
held the rod; taking one in my hand I found it turned imme-
diately; on which an old lady, mother to the gentleman of the
house, said that room was formed out of an old cloister, in which
cloister was a well, simply boarded over when they made the
room.
"L'Homme à la Baguette, from experience, could with
tolerable accuracy tell the deplh at which the springs were, and
their volume from the force with which the baguette turns; I can
only give a rough guess. In strong frost I think its powers not
so great; on a bridge or in a boat it has no effect, the water must
be underground to affect the baguette, and running through
wooden pipes acts the same as a spring. I can neither make the
baguette turn where there is no water, nor prevent it from turning
where there is any, and I am perfectly ignorant of the cause why
it turns. The only sensation I am conscious of is an emotion
G 2
}
叁
​
92
JACOB'S ROD.
similar to that felt on being startled by sudden noise, or surprise
of any kind. I generally use a baguette about six inches from
the vertex to the end of the twigs where they are cut off. I
shall most probably be in London next winter, and will (if you
wish it) afford you an opportunity of making your own observa-
tions on this curious fact.
The lady having arrived in London, wrote to Dr. Hutton to
inform him that she proposed being at Woolwich on Friday, the
30th inst. (May, 1806) at eleven in the forenoon.
66
Accordingly," says Dr. H., "At the time appointed, the
lady with all her family arrived at my house on Woolwich
Common, where, after preparing the rods, &c., they walked out
to the grounds, accompanied by the individuals of my own family
and some friends, when Lady
showed the experiment
several times in different places, holding the rods, &c., in the
manner as described in her ladyship's first letter above given.
In the places where I had good reason to know that no water
was to be found, the rod was always quiescient; but in other
places, where I knew there was water below the surface, the rods.
turned slowly and regularly, in the manner above described, till
the twigs twisted themselves off below her fingers, which were
considerably indented by so forcibly holding the rods between
them. All the company present stood close round the lady, with
all eyes intently fixed on her hands and the rods, to watch if
particular motion might be made by the fingers-but in vain;
nothing of the kind was perceived, and all the company could
observe no cause or reason why the rod should move in the
manner as they were seen to do.”
any
There can be no impropriety in stating now that the lady in
question was the Honourable Lady Milbanke, wife of Sir Ralph
Milbanke, Bart. (afterwards Noel) and mother of the late
Dowager Lady Byron, the wife and widow of the great poet. A
very interesting analagous statement relating to the same person
will be found in the Quarterly Review for March, 1820: No. xliv.
vol. 22.
Lately in France, the Count de Tristan has published a work
on the subject, which I have been unable to procure; but I have
a most interesting volume containing two memoirs by M.
Thouvenel, a physician of reputation in France, who was com-
missioned, in the year 1781, to the king, to analyse and report
upon the mineral and medicinal waters of the kingdom. The
author undertakes a patient and laborious investigation in the
spirit of a philosopher, and regards his inquiries as leading to a
new thread in the tangled skein of physics, which, like any single
fact of science, may lead to the discovery of a thousand others.
Thouvenel found a man named Bléton, whose business was that
a

ADDENDA.
93
of a discoverer of springs by means of a divining rod; and upon
this man he made more than 600 observations, many of them in
the presence of more than 150 persons, mostly of important
station, and very credible from their high character, who testify
to the truth of the observed phenomena. Among others was M.
Jadalet, Professor of Physic at Nancy, a man eminent for his
abilities, who was not only a witness of these experiments, but
was actually concerned in the greatest part of them. As in the
case of Lady Milbanke, with Bléton, an internal feeling was
coincident with the movement of the rod. Whenever this man.
was in a place where there existed subterraneous waters, he was
immediately sensible of a lively impression, referable to the
diaphragm, which he called his "commotion. This was fol-
lowed by a sense of oppression in the upper part of the chest ;
at the same time he felt a shock, with general tremor and
chilliness, staggering of the legs, stiffness of the wrists with
twitchings, a concentrated pulse, which gradually diminished.
All these symptoms were more or less strong according to the
volume and depth of the water, and they were more sensibly felt
when Bléton went in a direction against the subterranean current,
than where he followed its course. Stagnant water underground
did not affect him; nor did open sheets of water, ponds, lakes,
or rivers affect him. The nervous system of this man must have
been susceptible, since he was more sensibly affected by change
of weather and var ations in the state of the atmosphere than
other persons otherwise he appeared healthy. A severe acute
disorder had absolutely at one time deprived him of the faculty
of perceiving water, and his sensibility in this respect did not
return until three months aiter his recovery; so that if he were
sensitive, he could not be classed among the sick sensitives. But
however remarkable_these constitutional peculiarities may have
been, there was in Bléton's case a more than usual distinctness
in the behaviour of the divining rod.
}}
It was found that whether the trials were made in this manner
or over masses of coal, subterraneous currents of water, or
metallic veins, the divining rod indicated a determined sphere of
electric activity, and was in fact an electrometrical rod. "Of
all the phenoniena relating to the distinctions of fossil bodies,'
says Thouvenel, "acting by their electric emanations, doubtless
the most surprising is this; upon the mines of iron, of whatever
kind they may be, the rods supported by the fingers of Bléton
turned constantly upon their axis, from behind forward, as upon
the mines of coal; while upon other metallic veins, as upon
other metals extracted from their mines, the rotary movement
took place in the contrary direction, that is to say, from before
backwards. This circular movement, which never varies while
1
94
JACOB'S ROD.
Bléton is in a perpendicular position over mines or upon metals,
presents revolutions as rapid and as regular as the revolutions.
in the contrary direction upon the mines of iron and of coal."
Dr. Ashburner adds as follows:-
A highly susceptible girl, the lady's maid of a very clever
and intelligent friend of mine, residing in Hertfordshire, offers,
when she is mesmerised, a great many deeply interesting phe-
nomena. I have repeatedly mentioned her as Harriet P
She is as guileless and as good a being as can be met with, and
is much beloved by her excellent and amiable mistress, who
has repeatedly addressed me on her case. If a piece of hazel
stick or whitethorn be presented to Harriet, she grasps it and
sleeps mesmerically in less than a minute. The sleep is at first
very intense and deep, and then the stick is held so firmly that
the spasmodic state of the muscles renders it very difficult for
even a powerful bystander to turn it in her hand. Mary Anne
Douglas and several others of my patients have exhibited the
same phenomena. In two of the cases a very curious point has
been remarked. If the hazel or whitethorn stick be held with
the pointed end upwards, that end which is upwards when it
grows from the ground, the force of attraction is so energetic
that these individuals cannot resist their inclination to grasp it
with both hands. One of them will rush towards it from a
considerable distance, and will with extreme eagerness run
from the bottom to the top of the house in order to have the
pleasure of grasping it. If she succeed in getting hold of it
before its direction is reversed, her delight is unbounded; she
becomes intoxicated, and soon passes into a state of deep un-
conscious sleep. If, however, the stick be turned rapidly with
its pointed end downwards, a repulsive force operates, and each
patient feels a repugnance to it. If the stick be allowed to be
held in both hands, and a piece of gold, or of platinum, er of
cobalt, or of nickel, or the pointed end of a rock crystal be
held to it, in each experiment there is a burning sensation com-
plained of, and an endeavour is made to loosen the hold on the
stick, with ludicrous haste. A gentleman who had been often
put into mesmeric sleep, remarked, on holding successively
several pieces of these sticks, that a sensation of heat was com-
municated to his hand in each instance, and he felt a strong
tendency to sleep. Susan L., a highly susceptible person, ex-
claimed, while in a sleep-waking state, "that a shower of fine
small sparks of fire, came from a piece of hazel which
happened to be in my hand. She did not see this from ash or
from fir, but invariably saw it from every piece of hazel or
from whitethorn that was brought near her. On numerous
occasions experiments were made to test the accuracy of her
2)

ADDENDA.
95
1
P
P
repetitions on observing these things, and she invariably gave
the same answers to the questions on the same subjects. Sub-
sequently, eight other individuals were separately examined as
to their susceptibilities to different kinds of wood. Each gave
the same results and saw the sparks of fire. In many other
cases, the impressionability being different, the hazel and white-
thorn had no perceptible effects; the patients handling the bits
of stick without observing heat or sparks, and failing to grasp
them spasmodically. But Harriet P- r's impressiona-
bility was put to a very useful purpose. Her mistress had heard
of the practice of dowsing for water, and in a letter to a corres-
pondent, now before me, writes thus under date of July, 1845 :-
"We made a curious experiment here sometime since with Harriet
We have very bad water here, and have long been
unable to find a good spring. Mr. G. has in vain dug and dug and
dug for one. I proposed the divining rod, for, said I, Dr. Ash-
burner would not think it a foolish experiment. Harriet
was willing, so we went forth to a field the most
likely one for a spring; Mr. and Mrs. G., myself, and two
friends staying here. We put Harriet to sleep by the hazel
stick, she grasped it so tightly that we were obliged to use the
gold chain; she then held it only in one hand, and immediately
began to walk, taking her own way. She went very carefully
for about 20 yards, then suddenly stopped as if she had been
shot. Not a word was uttered by any one. We all looked on,
and were not a little surprised to see the rod slowly turn round
until her hand was almost twisted backwards. It looked as if
it must pain her. Still no one spoke. Suddenly she exclaimed,
'There! there! don't you see the stick turn? the water is here
—under my hand, I see, oh I see-let me look-don't speak
to me I like to look.' How deep is the water?' said Mrs. G.,
speaking to Harriet's fingers. Oh, about three feet, I can't
quite tell, but it is here.' In a moment, to our astonishment,
she sunk down on the grass, took the stick again in both her
hands, and seemed to like it as if it could feel. We made a
strange group round her, as we were all much astonished to
see what we had come there to see, but still it astonished us,
she seemed so like a little witch. We marked the place, and
after a few minutes we awoke her. In the evening she was
again mesmerised to sleep, and we asked her what she saw at
the spring. 'Why I saw water-water everywhere.' 'Then,'
said I, 'how do you know where the spring is?' 'Oh, because
it goes trinkle, trinkle-I know it is there.' 'Why did you sit
down?' 'Why, because I was so giddy; it seemed as if all
was water but the little piece of ground I stood upon ;-oh, I
saw so much water, all fresh, but no sea; I tried to see the sea,
C
*
..
1
}
F
96
JACOB'S ROD.
but I could not-I could not at all.' Mr. G. caused a large
hole to be dug at the place, and just at the depth of three feet
the water was found. A brick well has been constructed, and
there is a good supply of excellent water. No one could doubt
of the action of the rod, it turned so evidently of itself in her
hand. Of course when awake Harriet knew nothing of the
circumstance."
So many and so various are the testimonies and facts relating
to the divining rod, that it would be tedious to recite the hun-
dreds of respectable documents offered by those authors who
have written on this subject. Lately a work, by Tardy de
Montravel, printed in 1871, entitled Mémoire Physique et
Medicinal sur la Baguette Divinatoire, has fallen into my hands,
and it abounds in testimonies as to the truth of the same class
of facts. One of the most curious works I have seen on the
subject is a little book with the title of La Physique occulte, ou
Traité de la Baguette Divinatoire et de son Utilité pour la décou-
verte des sources d'eaux, des mineres, des trésors cachez, des voleurs,
et des meurtriers fugitifs, avec des principes qui expliquent les
phenomenès les plus obscurs de la Nature, par M. L. L. de Valle-
mont, Ph.D, et Ph., &c. This work, embellished with plates
illustrating the different kinds of divining rods, with the various
modes of holding them for use, appeared at the latter part of
the seventeenth century, and passed through several editions in
France as well as in Holland. It is remarkable for much
curious literary and historical learning, and for able state-
ments of the arguments which were used in the controversies,
rife at that period, on the realities of the facts under consideration.
It contains a curious catalogue of a great number of mines dis-
covered in France, by means of the divining rod, made out by a
German mineralogist employed for the purpose by Cardinal de
Richelieu. But the most singular part of the book is the
powerfully authenticated history of Jacques Aymar, a peasant,
who, constitutionally impressionable, guided by the divining rod,
followed a murderer for more than 45 leagues on land, and more
than 30 leagues by sea, and, I may add, found him.
THE DIVINING ROD IN AUSTRALIA,
Spiritual Magazine, August, 1867.
In the area of Kiora, lying to the southward of Ararat, the
settlers who are very anxious to discover springs of water upon
their selections, have engaged the services of an old man,
apparently between sixty and seventy years of age, who pro-
fesses to discover springs by the aid of a divining-rod. He has
already pointed out spots where he confidently states water will
*.
ADDENDA.
97
4.
1
be found at a moderate depth, and the farmers are now engaged
in practically proving his skill. We are told the diviner holds
a slender strip of steel between the finger and thumb of both
hands, and walks about the land with it in this position. When
water is approached, the rod trembles violently, and the motion
ceases as the place is left. One of the settlers, Mr. Tomkins,
with the view of testing his accuracy, had the diviner blind-
folded (after pointing out the spot where the water would be
found) and taken to another portion of his land, but he states
that the motion of the rod led him, with but little hesitation,
back to the same place. The old man refuses to take money
for his services till water be obtained, and when proved to exist
asks £3 from each individual. He states that the rod was
owned by his father, and that it will not indicate water in the
hands of any of his brothers. While engaged at Kiora he
showed some of the farmers letters which he had received from
a number of squatters engaging his services on their stations in
a similar capacity; and he left to fulfil these engagements, with
a view of returning for payment when the sinking is concluded.
He professes to name within three feet of the depth at which
water will be obtained, but cannot say if it will prove fresh or
salt.—Melbourne Argus, February 25th, 1867.
DIVINERS.
Spiritual Magazine, June, 1868.
A good deal of attention was paid by the newspapers to certain
alleged achievements of two diviners, or dowsers, about twenty
years ago. They were West of England men named Adams and
Mapstone. A farmer, near Wedmore, in Somerset, wishing for
a supply of water on his farm, applied to Mapstone. Map:cone
used a hazel rod in the usual way, and when he came over a par-
ticular spot, declared that water would be found 15 or 20 feet
beneath the surface. Digging was, therefore, commenced at that
spot, and water appeared at a depth of 19 feet. The other
expert, Adams, who claimed to have been instrumental in the
discovery of nearly a hundred springs in the West of England,
went, one day, by invitation, to the house of Mr. Phippen, a
surgeon, at Wedmore, to dowse for water. He walked about in
the garden behind Mr. Phippen's house, until the stick became
so agitated that he could not keep it steady; it bent down at a
spot which, he asserted, must have water underneath it. Mr.
Phippen caused a digging to be made, and water was really
found at the spot indicated. As a means of testing Adams's
powers in relation to metals, three hats were placed in a row in
1
1
98
JACOB'S ROD.
the kitchen, and three silver spoons under one of the hats.
Adams walked among the hats, and his rod told him which of
them covered the treasure. Then three kinds of valuables-
gold, silver, and jewels-were placed under three hats, one kind
under each, and he found out which was which. On another
occasion he dowsed for water in the grounds of the Rev. Mr.
Foster, of Sedbury, in Gloucestershire. Using the same method
as before, he announced the presence of water at a particular
spot, 20 feet beneath the surface. A pamphlet, published by
Mr. Phippen, concerning these curious facts, attracted the at-
tention of Mr. Marshall, partner in the great flax factory, at
Leeds. Water was wanted at the mill, and the owners were
willing to see whether dowsing could affect anything in the
matter. Mr. Marshall invited Adams to come down and search
for springs. On one occasion, when blindfolded, Adams failed,
but hit the mark pretty nearly in the second attempt, excusing
himself for the first failure, on the ground that "he was not used
to be blindfolded." Of the main experiments, Mr. Marshall
afterwards said, in a letter to the newspapers, "I tested Adams
by taking him over some deep borings at our manufactory,
where he could have no possible guide from anything he could
see; and he certainly pointed out nearly the position of the
springs, as shown by the produce of the bore holes, some being
much more productive than others. The same was the result at
another factory, where Adams could have had no guide from
what he saw, and could not have got information otherwise."
"Stick (not Table) Turning," in All the Year Round.
•
DIVINING ROD.
Spiritual Magazine, May, 1868.
A writer in the Gentleman's Magazine asserts the virtues of
these rods, and gives figures of them, and directions for their use,
vol. xxi., p. 507. Soon after, another writer gave a very
striking instance of the reality of the power of such rods. He
states that Linnæus, on a journey to Scania, hearing the virtues
of the divining rod highly extolled, determined to try it. He hid
a purse of one hundred ducats under a ranunculus, which grew
by itself in a meadow, and bade his secretary, the operator with
the wand, find it, if he could. The ranunculus was speedily
trodden down by the throng of people, and, for some time, the
rod discovered nothing. Linnæus then attempted to find the
purse, but could not, and persisted in seeking for it in a particu-
lar quarter.
The Secretary having tried that quarter, declared
that it was not there, and eventually, following his rod, found
?
ADDENDA.
99
the purse in a different direction. Linnæus adds, that another
such an experiment would have made a proselyte of him.*
24
I think, however, that I have given sufficient
proofs (possibly I may have wearied you with them).
My only object in giving any is that you may compare
the statements of M. Baritel with subsequent writers,
and with this apology conclude this chapter; the next
will relate my own experiences and experiments in
discovering mines, minerals, &c., extending over a
period of 25 years, constituting an entirely new dis-
covery, and one by which the rod may be dispensed
with. May I ask the favour to overlook my brusquerie
and deficient construction of the English language, as
I am but a workman.
CHAPTER II.
FOR a clear understanding of this chapter it will be
well if you are conversant with the arts of Mesmerism,
and so called Electro Biology. These two terms I
use as by them the public are better acquainted with
the phenonema, premising, however, that Mesmerism,
Animal Magnetism, and the Odic force, are three
names for one and the same electrical force, emanating
from all persons, and that Electro Biology and Electro
Psychology are identical. So for the sake of not being
misunderstood (though I dislike the terms), I will use
* The reason of the difficulty of finding the purse will be explained in the
chapter devoted to my own experiences.
}
3

¦
Upr
M
1

100˙
JACOB'S ROD.
the words Mesmerism and Biology when requisite, and
also point out the difference of the two states, which,
though produced by the same will-force, are not
identical but distinct, for Mesmerism, or the visible
result it produces, is the effect of sympathy with the
person mesmerised or magnetised, whereas Biology
is the science of impressions received by the person
acted on.
In Mesmerism there must be perfect accord between
the magnetiser and the person magnetised. What
the magnetiser sees, feels, hears, tastes, is readily per-
ceived by the person mesmerised, and not only so, but
what the mesmeriser wills is also the will of the one
mesmerised, by joint sympathy and accord, and union
of will and desire between both parties. It would
be foreign to my purpose to enumerate the various
states this will-force produces, as there are numerous
works on the subject that shew all its phases, which,
for an accurate understanding of the subject, are well
worth studying, were it only for the curious and
extraordinary matter they contain-(these may be pro-
cured at Messrs. Heywood's, Catherine Street, Strand)
-still, as I proceed, it may be necessary to refer to
them, so that you may better comprehend me.
In the biological state the person psychologised has
no such feeling or sympathy with the operator, he is
entirely independent of him, and commonly resists
with all his or her will or power, and, again, the
mesmerised usually hears no voice but that of the
magnetiser; in the psychological state the biologised
is en rapport with all present. This is proof of the
electrical difference between the two states. I think
.
ADDENDA.
ΙΟΙ
1

use.
it here necessary to state, that comparatively few, if
any, are naturally in the mesmeric or somnambulic state,
but that a very large proportion of mankind are in a
naturally biological state, and ready to your hand to
Do me the favour not to forget this, as you will
require it presently, but clearly understand that the
same electro nervous fluid, which is at all times ema-
nating from all, produces both states by the will of
the operator, though the results may be and are
different.
For the clear comprehension of the difference
between these two states, it will I think be advisable
that I give a copious extract from a small pamphlet
published by myself, called "Fascination." This is
necessary should you be inclined to carry out the ex
periments that are to follow in the discovery of springs,
minerals, mines, &c., for the state termed "Clairvoy-
ance" will not serve your purpose so well as the
psychological or biological state; my experience teaches
me that it is not so certain in its results, besides that
the effects produced by the action of the hazel rod
are not so readily removed, which are absolutely
necessary to be done for the safety of the sensitive,
or salivation will ensue. Besides that you require
your sensitive always clear and in health, and it would
be most selfish and ungenerous to neglect the pre-
cautions to obviate such a misfortune as the loss of it
through your neglect.
With these few remarks, and with the supposition
that you are unacquainted with the subject, I bring to
your notice the art of Electro Psychology. It is certain.
that this state is induced by the action of your
:
i
}
102
JACOB'S ROD.
mind acting positively on the person operated
upon, who is naturally, or who may be rendered,
electro-negative to yourself. This is very simply
tested in the following manner:-If before an
audience, ask as many as can conveniently be accom-
modated on the platform, seat them, and to each
give a round disc of zinc about two inches in diameter,
in the centre of which is fixed a piece of copper half
an inch in diameter; request them all to look intently
on the copper in the centre (the disc being placed on
the palm), at about a foot distant, for the space of
twenty minutes, and to keep, if possible, their minds
perfectly tranquil, and not look about them. At the
end of that time, collect your discs, and earefully
examine each person; those whose eyes are wide open
reject, but those whose eyes are closed, or have a
tendency to close, treat separately in this manner.
Take the person's hand, and with moderate but firm
pressure press on the Median nerve (this nerve is situa-
ted at the base of the thumb joint, and not easy to find,
but for fear of missing it cover with your thumb the part
just below the joint and pulse) for about a minute; at the
same time, with moderate pressure, press (with the other
hand) on the organ of individuality, situated in the
*
* Or you may, if
you have a galvanic battery and coil, dispense
with the zinc discs, and cause all the persons upon whom you are
experimenting to join hands for about fifteen minutes, so forming
a chain, and by each end person holding the wire all will receive
a very slight continuous shock, which must be graduated so as
not to cause inconvenience to them, but just so as to be distinctly
felt. I prefer the zinc discs, having obtained better results with
them.
A

ADDENDA.
103
¡
middle of the lower part of the forehead. If the
person by this act proves to be electro-negative
to you, say, in a firm, resolute manner, and voice
with plenty of confidence, "You cannot open
your eyes,” and determine within yourself that he shall
not. Should he, however, succeed or partially
do so, again put the fingers on the organ of individu-
ality, and, with the disengaged hand, gently stroke
downwards the eyelids, resolving that they shall close;
and should you fail this time, be not discouraged, but
remember that almost all persons can be brought under
your influence by repeated trials, even though it may
require a hundred; generally speaking, it requires two.
About five per cent. are naturally subject to your in-
fluence; and if there be any among them known to be,
or apparently, suffering from any ailment, you can at
once afford relief, and probably cure, by the simple
action of your WILL (using, of course, the manipulation
before described, with the exception of the zinc discs);
and at the same time it is advisable always to say to
the patient, "You are well," or, "You are better,” or,
“To-morrow you will be cured." But in the event of
the persons being in health, proceed with the seance by
addressing them thus, "You cannot open your eyes,"
"I told you that could not," "It is of no use trying,
or anything else that you please like it; or say promptly
"You cannot lift your leg," "You cannot move your
arm," and so on.
you
>>
If you are successful in controlling the movements
of the body, try the emotions of the mind, in evoking
joy, fear, surprise; but never rage, or you may, perchance
get a thrashing for your pains, although you may possess
104
JACOB'S ROD.
the strength of a giant to resist the attack. If the
person is then perfectly subservient to your will, men-
tally and bodily, you can cause him to think and do as
you please-cause him to imagine himself a horse, a
windmill, a steamboat, that his sex is changed-cause
him to see things that exist only in your own mind-
make him imagine that his head is rolling on the floor,
and set him to catch it, cause him to make any absurd
noise, to imitate animals, which he will do most drolly,
amidst roars of laughter, in which he himself will most
heartily join, probably, with a grave face, which consider-
ably enhances the fun; and all this is accomplished
without any damage to himself. Of course you will take
especial care not to cause him to do anything disagree-
able to himself or the company. If he stutters, or has
any other bad habit, make him promise to abandon it
for ever, and he will do so, provided that you exert
your will conjointly with his for that purpose. When
you have finished experimenting, and desire to restore
him to his normal condition, tell him distinctly that
you are about to do so, in whatever words you please,
and, with the will that he shall be so restored, blow
sharply on his forehead a few times. This will be certain
to remove your influence from him.
I shall conclude this first part of my address with
a remark to which I request you to pay particular
attention. Never use this power for any bad or un-
worthy purpose; for all good things may be abused.
It is but right also that I should put you on your guard
against those who may endeavour to influence you
without your consent, for I have before told you that
many are naturally sensitive to others. If you suspect
!
1

ADDENDA.
105
that any one wishes to do so, simply lay your hand for
a few seconds on the forehead (in fact mesmerise your-
self), and determine that they shall not influence or
govern you in any manner whatever, and no one can
possibly do so. I may here incidentally say, that the
knowledge of the positions of the cerebral organs will
be of great service to you in assisting you to poduce
the various effects before described.
The Second Part to which I call your attention will
be MESMERISM, or the science of sympathy with the
patient, and which is, as I will explain, a distinct science.
from Electro-Biology, which is, as before stated, the
science of impressions, whereby the person impressed
simply obeys the will of the operator, his senses being
entirely independent of himself, frequently resisting
with all his force; but in the science of Mesmerism, or
Animal Magnetism, the person mesmerised is in perfect.
sympathy and accord with the mesmeriser, and that which
he (the mesmeriser) feels, sees, smells, hears, tastes, or
wills, is perceived by the mesmerisee, but who, when
awakened from the mesmeric sleep, has no remem-
brance of that which has happened during the period
he has been in that state, except when told to do so
by the operator before awakening; whereas, in the
Electro-Biological state, he knows all that transpires,
without the power to prevent, however ridiculous it
may be. This explanation is sufficient to show that
the two sciences, though analogous, are distinct; yet
both these states are induced by the same nervous
fluid emanating from the operator. I will now proceed
to instruct you in the practice and application of
Mesmerism. In the first place, I wish you to under-
H
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'you
106
JACOB'S ROD.
stand that you are a living electrical machine, and that
there is at all times an emanation, or force, escaping
or evolving naturally from you, and that this force can
be projected upon and received by a person suscep-
tible to it, the hands, by the exercise of your will,
acting as conductors. This force, under proper man-
agement, cures the sick, simply by imparting to the
part which is deficient in the recipient more life and
health. It can be directed by your will into the most
remote part of the human body, and cause that part,
if not too much diseased, to re-compose new healthy
particles; in fact, consumption, cancer, epilepsy, and
certain forms of paralysis, and other dangerous mala-
dies (passing over minor ills), have been in hundreds
of cases cured by its use alone. Although I prefer
using it as an adjunct to medicine, under medical
direction, I should not hesitate, did I see any one
suffering, to try and relieve him-of course by per-
mission of the sufferer; but in certain emergent cases,
such as epilepsy, without it.
The method that I have used for the last twenty five
years to induce sleep, is very simple. The patient
being comfortably seated in an easy chair, I request
him to be calm, and look steadfastly into my eyes, at
the same time taking both his hands into mine in such
a manner that the insides of his and my thumbs touch
firmly, WILLING that he shall pass into the mesmeric
sleep. If, after having done so for about ten minutes,
I perceive the eyelids to be tremulous, and the eyes
moist, I lay his hands quietly on his lap, and proceed
to make the usual mesmeric passes slowly over the
eyes, 'head, and shoulders, and off the tips of the
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ADDENDA.
107
fingers in this manner:- Raise the hands, palms down-
wards, but closed; open the hands when over the
head, and bring them down as stated; close them
whilst raising them again, and repeat. If this course
be continued for twenty minutes, the effect is percep-
tible; but perhaps you may succeed in inducing the
sleep in ten minutes, to deepen which, in all cases,
lay the hand lightly on the pit of the stomach and
remain tranquil for a few minutes; or the sleep may
be deepened by gently pressing the eyelids, or by
slowly passing the hand over the head (from back to
front), or by softly breathing on the patient's hands.
When the sleep is induced, take especial care, I repeat
it, especial care, that no person but yourself touch or in
any way interfere with your patient, or even come too
close to him, for by so doing the spectator, though
meaning no harm, may unintentionally magnetise him
and produce convulsions. This is called a case of
cross mesmerism. To awaken your patient, all that
you have to do is to express firmly to him, in any
words you please, your wish that he shall awake; and
in a minute or so make upward passes with that desire,
until the eyes be open. If the eyes should afterwards
feel stiff, blow sharply on the forehead to remove the
inconvenience. Remember that the breath is dual
in its action; if you blow sharply it removes the
mesmeric effect, but if you breath softly, and with
WILL, you mesmerise most powerfully. I have, how-
ever, in my experience found that comparatively few
pass into the sleep, yet I have cured them without
producing it, or in any way apparently affecting them,
for the simple repetition of the process causes an
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108
JACOB'S ROD.
accumulation of the magnetism, or magnetic fluid, in
the system, and with it, health. In plain words, it
restores the polarity of the human body, the reversal
of which is disease, call it by what name you please.
And now you will do me the favour not to forget
(though you may smile at it) at all times when making
passes over the sick, to shake your hands either on
each side of, or behind you, WILLING in your own
mind to eject the sickness that you are removing. For
want of this precaution, I have known mesmerists.
take to themselves, and retain, the diseases that they
were curing. It is also well to wash your hands after
you have finished with the patient.
Having shown you how to mesmerise generally,
under ordinary circumstances, I think it advisable to
instruct you how to do so locally, in particular cases ;
that is, how to concentrate your power upon, and to
confine it to that part of the system which may be in
pain, inflamed, or otherwise deficient of health. If
the person suffers from headache, make the passes
(downwards in all cases), over the forehead, temples,
behind the ears, to the shoulders, down the arms,
and off to the tips of the fingers. Do this for about
fifteen minutes, when the pain will be relieved,
but if the pain be of long standing, repeat daily until
cured.
If the patient suffers from an open ulcer, make
circular passes over it with the tips of the fingers of
the right hand, for about ten minutes, WILLING at the
same time, that you will project health on it, then
think firmly, "I will gather up the disease in my hand,'
and suiting the action to the thought, mentally pull it

7
ADDENDA.
109
Continue this process
out, and throw it from you.
daily until cure is effected.
If you have a child suffering with rickets, or that is
weakly, strip it before the fire to avoid risk of cold,
and lay the left hand on its head, with the right hand
make firm, slow, vigorous passes by contact, down the
spine, thighs, and legs, for about twenty minutes, with
the fixed benevolent intention of imparting your
vitality to it. Repeat night and morning, until strong.
For toothache or earache (if agreeable to the
patient), lay on the part affected a piece of thin
clean flannel, and breathe on it powerfully, with long.
expirations, for a few minutes. I never knew this
method fail to relieve; generally, by repetition, it
effects a cure.
If your friend has an attack of the
gout, go like a friend and relieve him; at all events,
try to do so until the colchicum comes from the
chemists; if the pain has reached the head and breast,
as it not unfrequently does, make strong passes (in
earnest, mind) downwards over the head, breast,
thighs, and legs, and when you come to the feet let
your hands remain over them for a few seconds, then
in your mind gather in your hands the pain, or cause
of pain, and, with a strong pull, pull it out, and be
mindful to throw it from you as before prescribed.
Continue this process until your patient be relieved,
and repeat if requisite. If the pain be only in the
knees and feet, commence to mesmerise at the thighs.
This process may also be successfully applied to
rheumatism and all painful neuralgic cases. And
now, as far as space will permit, a fair insight into
the science and application of Mesmerism is given,
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JACOB'S ROD.
but I would advise, until more thoroughly acquainted
with it, no attempt to cure epilepsy or skin diseases
should be made, since, on account of their peculiar
nature, these maladies require experienced treatment;
and, with this advice, I will add a few words on the
mode of mesmerising water for the use of the sick,
either to wash with for skin diseases, or to make tea
and coffee, or to use as ordinary drinking water.
Take a quart of water in an open jug, hold it on your
knee with the left hand, and point and jerk the tips of
the fingers of the right hand over the water for about
twenty minutes, with the determination that you will
charge it with your influence for the benefit of the
patient, and resolving that your magnetism shall per-
meate the whole, and it will do so. Or, if agreeable,
take a quart bottle, and insert into it a piece of tin
gaspipe in the form of the letter S, breathe through it
for about five minutes to the bottom of the water.
This latter process is more powerful in its action on
the water than the first. This magnetised water is a
powerful restorative, and may be drank freely. If
your patient be susceptible you may, if you please,
charge the water in a dark room, and he will see the
vitality proceeding from you into the water in the
shape of vapour or scintillations. Like homoeopathic
medicines, this water must be kept in the dark.
In concluding, I earnestly beg that no use of this
power which exists in every human being be attempted
for a bad purpose, nor when you are not in health, nor
for a trial of strength, nor to magnetise a lady unless.
a third person be present, but to employ it soberly
and fearlessly, with a sincere and generous spirit, for
ADDENDA.
III
the benefit and advantage of your fellow creatures,
asking, in faith, for a return to men of that gift which
was common amongst the early Christians, viz., the
gift of healing.
It may be that you are surprised at my statement
that water can be mesmerised. I have but to say
that all created things can be so treated, and the power
inherent to each increased marvellously (see Ash-
burner, Teste, Deleuze, and many others on Animal
Magnetism). This leads me to say the hazel rod acts
but feebly in the hands of some, but by making a
few mesmeric passes down the rod its effects are
increased tenfold, so that those who are sensitive to
its influence but in a low degree can have it enhanced,
and so rendered much more sensitive. This induced
state may sometimes be necessary, but is not so with
those who have the power well developed, because;
the superinduction would interfere with, and probably
damage, their clear sensitiveness, to the normal action
of the rod. The method by which it is done is very
simple and as follows :-Let the mesmerist, biolo-
gist, or experimentalist, take the straight hazel rod in
the left hand, and make mesmeric passes for a few
minutes from the point down to the root end,
observing to close the fingers each time the right is
lifted to repeat the pass, so as not to demagnetise the
rod, but when it is necessary to do so, reverse the rod
in the left hand, and make as many passes from the
root to the point. By this means the rod will again
be brought to its normal state (see experiment 4,
page 114).
At the time when I first became conversant with
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JACOB'S ROD.
the science of Animal Magnetism, of course I rode
my hobby to death, but for all that when experience
had taught me properly how to use it by its applica-
tion I performed several remarkable cures, and while
attending a gentleman residing at Eastbourne, in
1851, I became acquainted with a market gardener
of that place, who kindly invited myself and family to
his garden, giving us the free use of it. In course of
conversation he stated that in consequence of there
being no water on the land he rented, that he should
not apply for a new lease, but leave at Michaelmas.
Knowing my wife's faculty (she is lame) I sent our
servant girl home for a certain stick that stood behind
the parlour door. In great terror she brought it to
the garden, her hand firmly clutched on the stick, nor
could she let it go. Instantly, seeing that the girl was a
sensitive, I made a few upward passes over the rod
and soon released her hand, which was much
cramped, and gave it to my wife. It (the stick)
drew her with a very considerable force to nearly the
centre of the garden, in a direct line, through currant
bushes, over strawberry beds, to a bed of poppies,
and there it and she stopped. At that time the
phenonema was new to me, and I was as much sur-
prised as any one present, but in answer to my ques-
tion to my wife why she stood there apparently
rooted to the ground, she replied that there was
water under the point of that stick, about six feet down
in the earth. Some would have said impossible, but
we, the gardener and myself, dug down, and found
the water as stated. He had given notice to quit, but
I advised him to fill the hole up and get a new lease;
112
ADDENDA.
113
The
he did so, and I left him in possession.
girl had a fearful dread of that hazel rod, nothing
could induce her even to touch it. In her supersti-
tion she said it was the devil. Thousands besides
her think he has something to do with it.
Of course on my return to London such a curious
fact to me then, stimulated enquiry, and I instituted
a course of experiments, both as regards my wife's
clairvoyant power and the action of the hazel rod in
the finding of mines, minerals, coal, and springs of
water, &c., in fact, by the gift that my wife undoubtedly
has, educated myself. I give you without reserve the
results.
Experiment 1.-A dry straight stick of hazel was
placed in my wife's right hand in a darkened room.
She declared that from it proceeded myriads of sparks,
and that from each end of it the scintillations emitted
were of diverse colours, from the root end red, and
from the opposite reddish blue. Deduction-That
the hazel rod has two poles, positive and negative.
Experiment 2.-The same rod being held by myself,
under the same conditions, she stated that the hazel
rod still gave sparks of the same colours, but that
they were blended with my own emanations proceed-
ing from myself (which are crimson when in health).
Deduction-That the hazel rod can be magnetised
even without the will, involuntarily.
Experiment 3.-The same rod, being laid on a table,
and a few mesmeric passes made over it, the sensitive
stated that its power was much enhanced, and that
torrents of sparkles, combined with my red magnetism,
covered the whole stick, and to such an extent that
}
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blue
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114
JACOB'S ROD.
the rod was brilliantly luminous.
Deduction--That
the hazel rod can be impregnated by the human
magnetism, and its native power much increased.
Experiment 4.-The same rod being thoughtlessly
laid aside, without being demagnetised, it, by its own.
and my magnetism combined, attracted my wife and
compelled her to grasp it, thereby producing catalepsy.
This was speedily removed by demagnetising the rod,
and making a few upward passes from the feet to the
head. Deduction-That the human magnetism is
retained by in animate substances.
Experiment 5.-The same rod being again mag-
netized by the direction of my wife, and placed in
the sun's rays for a few days, and again examined by
her, was found to have lost in a very great measure
the magnetism imparted to it, though it still retained
its own.
Deduction-That the sun's rays have the
power of restoring substances to their normal condi-
tion.
Experiment 6.—A wet or green straight hazel rod
was placed in my wife's hand; this produced extreme
rigour. Deduction That the rod when fresh cut
has inherently a greater force than when dry, but an
unpleasant one.
Experiment 7.—The first-named rod having been
steeped in water till it was saturated, was found to be
equal in force to one freshly cut, causing the same un-
pleasing sensation. Deduction-That the hazel rod
does not loose its power by being dried, and at any
time can be restored to its first state.
Experiment 8.-The nuts of the hazel being placed
in my wife's hand, produced no results different to

ADDENDA,
115
other nuts. Deduction. That the power is in the
rod, and not in the fruit. This is analagous to many
other plants, as some contain their curative powers in
the seeds, others in the roots, others in the bark, &c.,
some in the whole plant.
Experiment 9.-Rods of willow, alder, aspen, ash,
witch elm, saplings of oak, &c., each produced different
sensations in the hand of the sensitive, but none equal
to the hazel rod. Deduction-That the hazel rod
alone should be used for the discovery of mines,
minerals, springs, &c.
Experiment 10.-The before-mamed rods, and many
other kinds also, both in their green and dry states,
on being magnetised, had, by the act of magnetisa-
tion, communicated to them a property (by the will,
of course) similar but not identical to the hazel rod.
Deduction-That the human will can impress a quality
to an object that it has not in its normal state, and
also until it is demagnetised it will retain it.
Experiment 11.-Rods sawn lengthwise from boards,
such as pine, deal, cedar, &c., are polar, but have not
their polarity so well marked or distinct as those that
have the pith in them. Deduction-A sapling or
branch is preferable, having its whole nature in it.*
* Allow me here to observe that some woods seem to have the
power to retain, and are more congenial to the retention of the
effluence proceeding from the hands than others. I might in-
stance acacia and sandal wood as the two best. This has been
abundantly proved by numerous experiments since 1860, when I
commenced to make that most singular psychological instrument,
the planchette (see Spiritual Mag., vol. 1, page 228, also
planchette in Once a Week, Oct. 26, 1866, and my reply to it.
Hi lau
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can be d
116
JACOB'S ROD.
Experiment 12.-A forked hazel rod, on being
placed in the sensitive's hands, she holding both ends
of it, and the point downwards, produced extreme
rigidity in the arms and shoulders, with numbness,
which continued for days. Deduction-That the
sensitive herself, being naturally polar (as all are),
and the forked rod polar also, closed the polarity of
the sensitive (by the same law as a keeper on a
magnet), in fact overpowered her, hence I prefer the
straight rod, as it leaves the sensitive the power of
comparison.
Experiment 13.-The late Mr. Fradelle, then the
Secretary of the Mesmeric Hospital, being present at
one of these seances, suggested the hiding of a piece
of metal, and the rod being placed in my wife's hand,
she could not find it as formerly. Deduction—That
the will of the hider magnetises the hidden thing,
and so renders it almost impossible for the sensitive
to find it.
This explains the repeated failures of those who
can find metal, their high state of sensitiveness is
overborne by those about them either by design,
accidentally by too close proximity, or by strong un-
expressed doubt.
Will you please to remember that these thirteen ex-
periments were made while my wife was in that state
called clairvoyance, induced by mesme ism, and that
many other substances were so diagnosed, including
medicines, plants, the hidden curative property of
them, and their correct application in disease also,
and that her power has been repeatedly tested to find
minerals, springs, &c., by means of pieces of cane,
•
ADDENDA.
117
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At
wire, steel, whalebone, &c., as advised by M. Baritel,
but in no case were they successful (the reason will be
shown as we proceed). It is my full intention, as
I before stated, to render this subject so clear
that you can hardly misunderstand me. Possibly
I may be tedious; I had rather it were so than not
convey my meaning, and be pleased to overlook the
frequent use of the ego and meum, that can scarcely
be helped, as the subject is chiefly narrative.
page 102 you will find the method of proceeding to
produce the states of psychology or electro biology
and mesmerism. The former I should advise you to
use if you desire to obtain a sensitive to discover
mines, minerals, &c., because, as before stated, so
many are naturally subject (or can be easily rendered
so) to your influence by these simple means. Having
asked those who are willing to try if you can biologise
them to be seated, place in each person's hand a zinc
disc, as described, &c., and having found the one sensi-
tive, place in the right hand (his or her) a straight hazel
rod; if it produces rigidity in the hand, or a feeling
in the arm, best described as pins and needles, you
may be almost sure that you have found the right
person. Then proceed, deliberately and cautiously,
day by day, to educate your sensitive by such experi-
ments as you may think best, your aim being to dis-
cover if they are sensitive to the action of metals ; if
so, to prove it, throw a piece of money into a dark
room, and let your sensitive take the rod in the right
hand (the root end pointing to the ground-mind this
caution) and enter, and, if found, let them retain it-
(would you muzzle the ox that treads.the corn)—and
·
Visit
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118
JACOB'S ROD.
it would be most advantageous to yourself if the ex-
periment be frequently repeated; or you may walk
through the streets with your sensitive with the rod
in their hand, when the water is on from the main, and
very soon ascertain if they have the power, if so they
will follow the course of the water till you wet the
end of the stick, which stops its motion; indeed,
there is no certain rule. I presume cach one
must be treated differently to another, according to
their temperament and idiosyncrasies. I refrain from
giving uncertain instruction, preferring that you study
the matter for yourself, which is the only true method
of obtaining knowledge of any matter, but it is more
than likely that as your sensitive advances they will
not need your services, but be able to act without
biological induction. But beware of impostors; to
detect them mentally command them well, say to stand
on their head or any other absurd thing, and if they
do or attempt to obey your unexpressed command,
there can be no doubt but that you have the right
person. Above all do not deceive yourself nor come
to a hasty conclusion, and here I conclude this part.
of the matter.
About the year 1858 business caused me to form
the acquaintance of Dr. Dixon, of Great Ormond-
street, to whom I named my wife's faculty. He fully
tested it in the cure of diseases, and I give you an
extract from his pamphlet, Hygienic Clairvoyance.
:(
25. Intimating my wish to the clairvoyante, Mrs.
W., of whom I have already spoken, to investigate, as
completely as possible, the natural faculty, possessed
by her in so eminent a degree, of dynamically per-

ADDENDA.
119
ceiving and distinguishing objects, she expressed her
willingness. And we arranged for an occasional eve-
ning for the purpose. At our first sitting (July 2, 1858)
I invited a few friends to be present. Mrs. W. went
into an adjoining room while we made preparations.
It had been proposed to magnetise her, but she said
it was not necessary to be in the sleep to exercise her
dynamic faculty; by collecting herself, and willing,
she could perceive the qualities and magnetoid rela-
tions of objects.
"26. Having made our arrangements she was in-
vited to come in. She approached the table; on it
were placed, each under a separate piece of paper,
and a few inches apart, bismuth, silver, gold, and
copper. I had made some transverse passes over each
to remove all foreign effluences from them. Putting
her hand upon the paper covering the bismuth, she
said, 'This feels something like zinc, but I am not
sure.' Leaving that, she moved her hand over the
paper covering the silver; she said 'Silver is there;
it burns because it is so near to this, which must be
gold.' Her mistaking the bismuth for zinc, she said,
was its being too near the copper. On bringing her
hand over the paper concealing the copper, it became
cramped and contorted. To relieve this I made trans-
verse passes over the hand and arm, but in vain.
'De-magnetise the copper,' she said. I made trans-
verse passes over the copper, and the cramp of the
hand ceased after a few moments. It must be remem-
bered that I had made passes over the copper at the
commencement. She said that the metals had all
been placed too near each other, that any two metals,
j
:
120
JACOB'S ROD.
she had found, make a battery; the positive with the
metals negative to them. She remarked, incidentally,
that the sun's rays were the most effective in restoring
the proper magnetism to metals; and that, according
to her observation, all medicines make batteries with
each other; in other words, have positive and negative.
dynamical relations.
"27. Her faculty not appearing to be sufficiently
free from external influence, it was proposed that she
should be put into the sleep.' For this purpose,
on the present occasion, she selected my magnetism,
as it was about her since my attempt to free her indi-
rectly from the effluence of the copper. But before
magnetising her she wished me to remove my chain,
as the effluence from that might affect her; the copper,
she said, had made her feel combative.
"28.
She passed behind the veil,' as I term it,
after being magnetised by the eye for.something less.
than a minute. As soon as she intimated, by her
usual gesture, that she was in 'the other state,' I pro-
posed that the friends present should place themselves
en rapport with her, as usual, by touching her hand.
'No,' she said, 'I see and hear you all well enough.'
This was unusual, and the reason was not asked,
perhaps it lay in the fact of all present being friendly
with her, and earnest inquirers into the subject.
'
29. She then, at once, reached her hand to a lady,
an invalid recovering from a paralytic affection-and
said, 'In extreme cases of paralysis a battery like one
of these might be worn on the arm, and one of copper
and zinc on the thigh, for the battery on the arm will
not affect the legs' (her hand here accidentally touched
ADDENDA.
I2I
1
the brass moulding, lined with lead, on the arm of the
chair she was, in; she shook her hand, blew on it,
and said 'Nasty'); there should be a change from
time to time; the zinc should sometimes be in contact
with the skin, and at other times the copper; the
zinc should touch the copper at the edges, but not at
the centre. These directions are for a hard, dark
person, if fair, reverse the order. In many cases of
the loss of the use of the leg and arm, the paralysis
is from congestion in the tissues of the brain; in such
cases the best battery would be a film of platina on a
zinc foundation, with thin paper interposed. Lead
and brass make a good battery for some cases also.
Mrs. B. (one of the ladies present), should have a
thin sheet of brass to her feet, and thin lead to the
nape of her neck, and the places to which the metals
are applied should be washed at times with camphor
water; she would be better in a fortnight.' After a
little pause she turned to me and said suddenly, 'Doc-
tor, I have been long enough with metals, you had
better awake me, and I will look, after a little time,
at anything else.""
He being pressed with other matters, the seances
at his house were discontinued, and I, seeing the
value of them in a commercial view, resolved on
commencing a course at home, especially as I found
her so sensitive as to diagnose the action on her system
of a millionth part of a grain of homoeopathic medicine
-(question, does the infinitely small quantity of the
drug act, or is it the will impressed on it, at the time
of preparation that does so? I have good reasons for
supposing the latter to be the case, they, however,
I
1
Så
JACOB'S ROD.
would be out of place here)—so I procured a homœo-
pathic case and bottles, and put into them about
twenty of the metals, each chemically pure (that is
without alloy), each of which being placed separately
in my wife's hand, produced different results. After a
short experience (my will acting, of course) I found
that she had the faculty, by the sensations they pro-
duced on her, the power of discriminating one from
the other with unerring exactitude, and that there was
no occasion (as formerly) to put her into that phase
of magnetism called clairvoyance. She had the gift at
all times, by her own will alone, of finding springs,
mines, minerals, &c., on a map of the land being
brought to her. This I named to the late Mr. Head-
land, chemist, of Princes-street, Oxford-street. He
doubted it; to convince him my wife sent me for a
map of his land, on which he had sunk a very deep
Artesian well, and had not found water to supply the
houses that he had built (so they were unlet). The
map formed sufficient rapport with the land for my
wife to clearly see it. Her statement was as follows :—
"Tell him that he has sunk the well in the wrong
place, and they have not tapped the head of the
spring; there is abundance of water; let him sink a
fresh well here"-indicating the spot. I took the
message to him. His reply was "I will bore for a
fresh well if you can give me further particulars." I
returned home, and the map was again used, and the
following statement in writing was taken by myself
to Mr. H. "Outside his land there is a small run of
water. This proceeds from an outlet from the hill,
on which his houses are built, and now runs to waste.”
122
V
ADDENDA.
123
The strata through which he had bored were described
with precision. He admitted it was all true as stated,
and did bore for a fresh well, found the water, which
is now being used. His shopman then, now a chemist
in business for himself in Regent-street, will confirm
this statement in every particular. Mr. H. obtained
the water by my aid; I received nothing for my
trouble, experientia docet. However, the matter soon
got bruited, and many applications were made, and
mines discovered where none were supposed to be—
copper, iron, coal, lead, &c.-by the above means,
being used. These I may not refer to, having been
paid for the same, and it would be a breach of con-
fidence to name the mines discovered by my wife.
Do you think that she alone has this faculty? My
experience warrants the conviction that there are
multitudes, all over the world, of all grades, rich and
poor, civilised and barbarous, in whom this power/
lays latent waiting to be used. Perhaps this small work
may stimulate enquiry; for my part I shall be willing
to satisfy any reasonable doubts. For the proof of the
existence of this power in a far higher degree than I
have named, read Natures Secrets, by Mr. William
Denton, date 1833, Houlston and Wright, publishers.
Mr. D. refers in his work to the applicability of this
faculty for the finding of metals, &c., and thinks that it
will be universally used. As far as I know he has
not applied his knowledge practically. It may here
be as well to state that the oil wells of Pensylvania
were found by one phase of this most precious gift,
which, however, is not unattended with danger, for
each metal salivates the sensitive, and if an antidote
I 2
t


Colite
B
in the
124
JACOB'S ROD.
be not at hand most disastrous effects will ensue, and
for very fear of the results the sensitive will naturally
refuse to continue these researches, and, if the will
remained, the power to use it would be destroyed,
because the salivation would remain. To obviate this
difficulty and annoyance, I think it advisable to say
that if your sensitive, who has the power to use the
hazel rod only, becomes unable to release his hand
from the rod (an occurrence which frequently happens),
all that is to be done is to insert into the hand that
grasps the rod a small piece of zinc or iron, and if
any rigidity still remains make a few upward mesmeric
passes, as before described, from the tips of the fingers
to the shoulders, and off. This never fails to restore
the arm to its normal state; but if your sensitive has
the higher, but not more useful, power to dispense
with the rod, a very different course must be pursued ;
as, for instance, if the sensitive has been investigating
land (either by the map, or personal visit) which con-
tains gold in excess of other metal, then the antidote
to gold must be placed in the hand or other part of
the body, at the wish of the sensitive, to relieve the
salivation, and instinct will instruct the sensitive far
better than you yourself can do (see extract from Dr.
Dixon's pamphlet). As a guide, but by no means a
certain one, I may remark that gold produces on the
sensitive a tingling sensation throughout the whole
The antidote
system, commencing at the spine.
for it is a piece of roll sulphur placed in the
hand, or at the base of the neck, for a few minutes.
Platina, the same sensation attended with numbness in
the spine and extremities; antidote as before, some-
ADDENDA.
125
•
times cold water. Palladium, nearly the same antidote,
ditto. Silver, a cold numbness throughout the region
of the heart, and a sensation of heavy weight in the
hands and feet; antidote, soda, as before. Lead,
without great care in the removal would settle perma-
nently in the system, and would produce a bad saliva-
tion, as from Mercury, but more dangerous on account
of its heavy nature and non-liability to be ejected
from the system; antidote, sulphur and podophy-
llin taken internally, Mercury, its effects are well
known; antidote, great warmth and small doses of
milk of sulphur internally until the salivation be
removed. Antimony, a most deadly sense of vomiting
and utter prostration; antidote, an oyster chewed and
ejected, afterwards a few eaten uncooked, let them be
natives if possible. Copper, a burning sensation in the
throat and tonsils particularly, and also throughout the
whole system with great want of power to open the
hands; antidote, take internally four or five grains
sulphur until relieved. Arsenic, a hot burning sensa-
tion in the eyes, throat, and chest, enlargement of the
tonsils, in fact, a most deadly feeling throughout the
whole system; antidote, mercurius taken internally in
small doses until relieved, then sulphur. Tin, a cold
icy feeling throughout the whole system, with numbness
of the feet; antidote, chloride of sodium (common
salt) placed in the hands. Nickel, causes an overflow
of blood to the brain, with paralysis of the spinal
column and epilepsy; antidote, antimonial wine taken
internally in small doses until relieved, in its absence.
take opium, with natural sleep. Bismuth, a sensation
of fulness of blood and congestion of the arteries;
}
+
126
JACOB'S ROD.
antidote, metallic tin placed in the hands. Graphite,
a slight salivation and sense of numbness all over the
body; antidote, magnesia, either internally or placed
in one or both hands. Cobalt, a disposition for
hemorrhage; antidote, a few oysters eaten uncooked,
and bathing the hands and face in cold water. Man-
ganese, produces a violent shaking precisely similar to
St. Vitus's dance; antidote, chalk held in either or both
hands. Iron, produces a sense of tremendous weight all
over the body, with disposition to vomit; antidote, a
small piece of platina held in either or both hands, or
applied to the nape of the neck, or pit of the stomach
for a few minutes at a time until relieved. With these
few metals I close the list, well aware that there are
many others whose properties I have not investigated,
as they are comparatively scarce, though I think they
would well repay the trouble. Without doubt you will
clearly see the danger to the sensitive if the antidotes
be not used at the time of the experiment being made,
as delay aggravates the evil symptoms. The above
remarks apply equally to those who have the power to
use the hazel rod, or to those who have the clairvoyant
power of discovering mines, minerals, &c.; and here
let me caution you when you have found the sensitive
not to use the gift more than twice monthly, or the
power will be soon destroyed. A few words as to its
application, and my task is finished. It is evident by
the testimony given that there exists a power possessed
by some (thousands, in reality) to find springs, mines,
and minerals by means of the hazel rod, and I think
that I have shown that some have also the power to
do so with much more certainty by clairvoyance, or a
į

ADDENDA.
127
waking state in which sensitives have the power, by the
exercise of their own will, to place themselves en
rapport with distant objects, and the metals being
almost all poisonous, and to all violently active, of
necessity attacks their sensitiveness in a great degree;
self-introvision and practice enables them to see their
own state and describe it. This is my experience of
the matter, and (in my opinion) a solution of the
apparent mystery. What is more easy. than to usefully
apply it? Let us suppose three cases. A shaft has been
sunk and the mineral not found, and of course the
capital wasted. With the utmost facility I declare it
can be known, firstly, if there be any metal or mineral
near, or in sufficient quantity to pay for the getting ;
secondly, if its depth be such that it would cost more
to get than it would be worth, with the capital in hand;
or eventually, thirdly, it can be known whether it would
be advisable to sink a shaft in any given place on
account of the proximity of springs which might over-
flow; and lastly, in mines already worked the true
position, place, locality, quantity, and quality of ores.
and minerals can be given. Surely this is worth atten-
tion, and the modus operandi a searching study, for if
my statements be true, illimitable wealth is of easy
acquirement.* Were I commencing the study of the
subject, I would procure a few biological discs,as before
described, a few hazel rods, and a homoeopathic case,
containing about two dozen corked (not stoppered)
bottles, with a small quantity of chemically pure metals
in eighteen of them, the rest empty for the antidotes.
* Indeed, at this present time, to my certain knowledge, I
know of an estate of 300 acres in extent, enormously rich in
silver, lead, gold, and Barytes, and which requires but small capital
to realize very large sums of money; it can also be had on easy
terms, or a portion of it. The metal is actually on the surface,
native, and can be seen with the naked eye.

128
JACOB'S ROD.
These I should be willing to supply on application.
Indeed, my researches have not been confined to
these few metals only, but to many other substances,
and by the art which I have endeavoured to teach you,
have sought the world over, and affirm that (judging
from the past) the pyramid in the Exhibition of 1862,
representing the gold found in Australia, is a mere
molehill compared with what one day will be found
when the science that I have brought before your
notice will be the usual method (for I have not
exhausted the subject, merely called your attention to
it) of discovering the minerals, &c., and if gold be
wealth (which I doubt) it is in almost illimitable
quantities in the lands adjacent to Ashantee, in Siam
also, in Assam and Burmah prodigious quantities of
gold, rubies of price. Silver (but not much), lead,
copper, manganese, graphite, gold, copper, kaolin,
potter's clay, masses of minerals and coal also in
Australia. Plenty of it too in Batavia, China, Japan,
and of good quality, illimitable wealth spread all over
the earth, requiring but trivial labour to obtain it. But
why should we seek wealth in other lands, when our own
islands teem with it, and at home to our very hands,
why is so little obtained of it, and at such great
expense. Simply because they blunder in the getting of
it, and the lodes are not worked out to their terminations
in many cases. Why does the water so frequently
inundate the mines, causing such enormous outlay to
keep them clear? Simply because our present know-
ledge in most cases does not teach us how to evade
the springs. Why not bore for them first, and bring
them to the surface, before commencing to sink a
shaft for the mineral. That such can be done with
almost unerring certainty is my object in indicting these
few pages, which are but preliminary (to the subject
treated), being fully investigated, such is my con-
viction.
:

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